GREEK   AND   ROMAN 
VERSIFICATION 


WITH 


AN  INTRODUCTION  ON  THE  DEVELOPMENT 
OF  ANCIENT  VERSIFICATION 


BY 

LUCIAN    MULLER 


TRANSLATED  BY 

SAMUEL    BALL    PLATNER 

Professor  in  Adelbert  College 


,   •  >     ' i'    '    y       > 
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Boston 

ALLYN    AND    BACON 
1892 


Copyright,  1892, 
By   SAMUEL   BALL   PLATNER. 


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TRANSLATOR'S    NOTE. 

LuciAN  Muller's  "  Metrik  der  Griechen  und  Romer"'  (2d  ed., 
Leipzig,  1885)  has  met  with  so  favorable  a  reception  in  Europe, 
and  is  in  so  many  respects  a  valuable  handbook,  that  it  has  seemed 
to  be  worth  while  to  translate  it  into  English,  with  tlie  author's 
sanction. 

Almost  all  students  in  our  preparatory  schools  and  colleges  are 
sadly  deficient  in  their  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek  versification, 
and  any  help  whatever  towards  remedying  this  condition  of  things 
may  not  be  amiss.  Hence  this  translation,  in  which  no  changes 
have  been  introduced  except  the  musical  notation. 

S.  B.  P. 

July,  1892. 


44G4'?fi 


PREFACE   TO    THE    SECOND    EDITION. 


The  kind  reception  of  this  book,  which  was  pubHshed  in 
the  beginning  of  1880  in  Russian,  and  lias  already  been  most 
carefully  translated  into  French  and  Italian,  of  necessity 
spurred  me  on  to  make  it  still  better  adapted  to  subserve 
its  intended  purpose.  Hence  the  criticisms,  offered  in 
the  different  reviews  of  the  book,  as  in  the  "  Philologische 
Rundschau"  (1881,  No.  38)  and  the  "Revue  Critique" 
(188 1,  Nos.  36  and  52),  have  been  conscientiously  considered 
and,  as  far  as  possible,  made  use  of.  I  am  especially  indebted 
to  Professor  A.  Eussner,  who  has  called  my  attention  to 
various  inequaUties  in  the  work.  The  addition  of  an  Alpha- 
betical Index  to  this  edition,  as  well  as  to  the  French  and 
Italian  translations,  will  please  many  readers. 

I  have  not  succeeded  in  accomplishing  the  desire,  several 
times  expressed,  to  treat  exhaustively  of  the  metres  of 
Catullus  in  this  little  book.  For  these  I  must  refer  to 
the  "  Summarium  rei  metricae  poetarum  latinorum,"  St. 
Petersburg  and  Leipzig,  1878,  a  work  which  has  retained 
its  popularity  even  by  the  side  of  the  German  '  Metrik,' 
as   is  shown   by  the  continuous  demand   for  it. 

L.  M. 

St.  Petersburg,  January  i,  1885. 


PREFACE   TO   THE   FIRST   EDITION. 


The  thought  which  has  influenced  me  most  in  the  compo- 
sition of  this  book,  is  that  which  I  have  already  expressed 
on  page  loi  of  my  Biography  of  Ritschl,  namely,  that  a 
knowledge  of  the  most  usual  classical  metres,  founded  on 
a  developed  linguistic  sense,  is  the  most  important  and,  in 
practice,  the  most  necessary  requirement  —  as  well  for  the 
teacher  as  for  the  pupil  in  the  gymnasium.  Even  among 
philologists  there  are  few  specialists  in  versification.  How 
can  more  be  asked  of  the  students  than  is  demanded 
above  ? 

It  is,  however,  a  matter  of  great  moment  that  this  knowl- 
edge should  not  be  simply  mechanical,  a  mere  exercise  of 
the  memory,  but  that  it  should  be  thoroughly  understood 
and  felt  by  the  students,  so  that  they,  to  speak  with  Horace, 
not  only  legitiiimm  sonum  digitis  callent,  but,  as  is  most  im- 
portant, ail  re.  Encouraged  by  the  approval  which  has  been 
bestowed  in  Germany,  France,  Russia,  and  elsewhere,  upon 
my  "Summary  of  Latin  Versification,"  —  a  book  intended,  as 
is  stated  in  the  Preface,  for  students,  teachers,  and  philolo- 
gists, who  are  not  specialists  in  this  line,  —  and  by  its  wide 
circulation,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  is  written  in  Latin, 
I  now  have  decided  to  write  a  treatise  on  the  versification 
of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  especially  adapted  for  the 
upper  classes  in  the  gymnasia.  To  this  task  I  have  been 
repeatedly  urged  by  higlily  esteemed  teachers. 

5 


6  Preface  to  First  Edition. 

The  method  is  exactly  the  same  as  that  pursued  in  the 
"  De  re  metrica  poetarum  latinorum."  Following  the 
examples  of  Hermann  and  Lachmann,  and  still  more  that 
of  Bentley  and  Porson,  the  attempt  is  everywhere  made  to 
explain  the  phenomena  of  versification  from  a  linguistic 
point  of  view.  While  there  may  be  a  difference  of  opinion 
concerning  the  scientific  justification  of  this  mode  of 
procedure,  a  question  that  I  have  discussed  at  more  length 
in  the  Biograjjhy  of  Ritschl,  page  loo,  there  can  hardly  be 
any  doubt  among  intelligent  teachers  of  its  practical  useful- 
ness for  the  purpose  of  this  handbook. 

The  great  majority  of  judges  who  are  qualified  to  express 
an  opinion  on  the  subject  now  acknowledge  that  gram- 
matical accent  is  wholly  without  influence  so  far  as  the 
rhythmical  formation  of  the  classical  metres  is  concerned. 
My  own  theory,  which  goes  much  further  and  amounts  to 
this,  that  the  main  object  of  the  old  poets  was  to  produce 
as  great  variation  as  possible  between  the  poetical  rhythm 
and  the  grammatical  accent,  and  that  in  general,  in  the 
structure  of  the  verse,  no  regard  was  had  for  the  accent, 
but  only  for  the  number  of  syllables,  especially  for  the 
balancing  of  monosyllables  and  polysyllables,  still  encounters 
much  opposition.  My  only  hope  is  that  after  reading 
the  Fifth  Section,  even  my  most  stubborn  opponents  will 
acknowledge  that  this  view  can  be  put  to  excellent  use  in 
actual  practice. 

In  accordance  with  the  object  of  this  work  the  Greeks 
principally  considered  are  Homer,  the  fragments  of  the 
Elegiac,  Iambic,  and  .'Folic  poets,  as  far  as  they  serve  to 
illustrate  Homer ;  among  the  tragedians,  especially  Sophocles ; 
of  the  Romans,  Vergil,  Horace,  Ovid,  Ph?edrus,  Tibullus, 
and    Propertius.      Only   occasional    references    are    made    to 


Preface  to  First  Edition.  7 

the  chorus  and  in  general  to  the  lyrical  parts   of  the   Greek 
tragedies,  for  the  following  reasons  :  — 

In  the  first  place,  the  criticism  and  metrical  reconstruction 
of  these  parts  is  very  uncertain,  just  as  in  the  cantica  of 
Plautus.  Besides,  a  metrical  scheme  of  these  passages  is 
found  in  all  the  editions  ordinarily  used ;  and  although 
I  have  grave  doubts  about  the  accepted  divisions,  still  any 
change  in  them  would  be  dangerous  without  a  longer 
argument,  and  polemical  arguments  would  expand  this  book 
beyond  its  proper  limits.  Further,  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  the  teacher  should  read  metrically  the  lyrical  parts  of 
tragedy,  and  require  the  same  of  the  students,  without 
lingering  too  long  over  the  versification.  Every  teacher 
will  admit  that  in  the  reading  of  a  Greek  drama  in  the 
gymnasia  so  many  other  difficult  questions  must  be  consid- 
ered, that  only  a  small  portion  of  time  can  be  given  to 
metrical  questions,  if  the  reading  of  any  particular  play  is 
to  be  finished  or  even  carried  to  any  considerable  length. 
It  is  the  ol)ject  of  the  gymnasium  to  develop  the  under- 
standing and  imagination  of  the  scholars,  and  to  inspire  in 
them  a  love  and  appreciation  of  classical  antiquity,  but 
not  to  make  of  them  philologists  or  specialists  in  metre. 
Therefore  I  believe  that  I  shall  have  fulfilled  my  duty  if 
I  succeed  in  bringing  the  students  to  know  and  understand 
the  ordinary  metres  of  those  poets  usually  read  in  the 
gymnasia. 

I  have  therefore  treated  especially  of  the  two  most 
frequent  and  noble  metres,  the  Dactylic  Hexameter  and 
Iambic  Trimeter  (together  with  the  Strophes  of  Horace), 
with  the  conviction  that  one  who  has  thoroughly  mastered 
these  measures  has  already  advanced  a  long  way  into  the 
knowledge  of  ancient  versification. 


8  Preface  to  First  Edition. 

Just  because  versification  is  so  often  unreasonably 
neglected,  a  great  part  of  the  charm  that  poetry  afforded 
to  the  men  of  olden  time  is  veiled  or  wholly  taken  away 
from  students.  Every  teacher  knows  that  for  most  students, 
until  they  reach  the  highest  classes  in  the  gymnasium, 
scanning  is  a  veritable  "  crux,''  which  has  contributed  not 
a  little  to  keep  alive  the  prejudice  against  classical  authors, 
while  in  reality  the  most  beautiful  creation  of  the  genius  of 
language  is  the  versification  of  the  classic  poets  which  are 
read  in  the  schools.  To  produce  a  love  for  this  versifica- 
tion and  an  understanding  of  it,  which  may  outlive  the 
years  of  school  life,  is  the  purpose  of  this  book. 

Truly,  I  must  beg  for  it  an  indulgent  reception. 

It  is  not  easy  in  a  handbook,  which  should  be  at  once 
thoroughly  scientific,  brief,  and  generally  intelligible,  to 
satisfy  all  fair  demands,  not  to  mention  the  unfair.  The 
task  was  all  the  harder  because,  although  for  a  long  time 
I  have  had  a  lively  interest  in  the  practical  questions  of 
classical  philology  as  well  as  in  the  needs  of  the  gymnasia, 
still  on  account  of  my  position  I  have  come  but  little  into 
direct  touch  with  these  institutions,  and  so  have  been 
deprived  of  the  equally  inspiring  and  manifold  impressions 
produced  by  daily  immediate  contact  with  youth.  So  much 
the  more  grateful  ought  I  to  be,  that  experienced  teachers 
of  different  countries  have  assisted  me  with  their  advice. 
They  were  also,  almost  without  exception,  of  the  opinion 
that  I  should  treat  in  only  a  cursory  way  of  the  lyrical 
parts  of  the  Greek  tragedy. 

For  the  rest,  perhaps  this  handbook,  though  primarily 
intended  for  the  upper  classes  in  the  gymnasia,  may  prove 
not  unwelcome  to  many  students  of  philology,  even  the 
younger. 


Preface  to  First  Edition.  9 

The  introduction  is,  of  course,  principally  for  teachers 
and  philologists.  For  the  part  treating  of  Greek  versifi- 
cation I  must  ask  indulgence,  since  in  the  metrical  works 
known  to  me,  even  in  the  excellent  book  of  Christ  which 
I  have  often  used,  there  is  no  simple  connected  statement 
of  the  development  of  Greek  versification.  For  this  part, 
as  well  as  for  the  whole  book,  any  corrections  or  hints  of 
qualified    philologists  or  teachers  will  be  most  welcome. 

L.  M. 

St.  Petersburg,  January  i,  iSSo. 


CONTENTS. 

»o« 

PAGE 

Translator's  Note 3 

Preface  to  the  Second  Edition 4 

Preface  to  the  First  Edition 15 

INTRODUCTION. 

Development  of  Classical  Versification.  » 

1.  General  Remarks 13 

2.  Greek  and  Roman  Versification  compared 14 

I.  Greek.  —  3.   Hexameter  and  Pentameter 15 

4.  Archilochus 17 

5.  ^olic  Lyric  Poetry.  —  Anacrcon.   Ilipponax.  Ananias  17 

6.  Doric  Lyric  Poetry 18 

7.  The  Attic  Drama 20 

8.  The  Alexandrian  and  tlie  Later  Cireek  Poets. — •  Nonnus  23 

II.  Roman. —  g.  The  Earliest  Period  until  Ennius 24 

10.  Ennius.     Lucilius.    Accius 26 

11.  Contemporaries  of  Cicero 28 

12.  Augustan  Age 29 

13.  The  First  Centuries  after  Christ 32 

14.  Antiquarian  Tendency  in  Versilication 2;} 

III.  —  15.   Final  State  of  Greek  and  Roman  Versification 34 

16.   Rhythmical  Poetry 36 

FIRST   SECTION. 

Gener.\l  Introduction. 

1.  Rhythm  and  Metre 37 

2.  Long  and  Short  Syllables.     Arsis  and  Thesis 38 

3.  Verse-feet.     Basis.     Anacrusis 38 

4.  Verse   40 

5.  Cresura 42 

10 


Contents.  1 1 

PAGE 

6.  Final  Syllables 42 

7.  System.    Strophe.     Epode 43 

8.  Punctuation  in  Verse 43 

9.  Rhyme.     Alliteration 4^ 

SECOND   SECTION. 

Ox  PeculIxVrities  of  the  Foot. 

10.  Synapheia  4^ 

11.  Resolution  of  Thesis  and  Arsis 4*^ 

THIRD   SECTION. 
Description  of  the  Most  Important  Metkes,  Strophes,  and  Systems. 

12.  Dactylic  Metres 5° 

13.  Anapaestic  Metres 55 

14.  Iambic  Metres 57 

Iambics  of  Phredrus 60 

15.  Trochaic  Metres 62 

16.  lonici  a  Miiiori 64 

17.  Logaoedic  Metres 64 

18.  Asynartete  Verse  (Mixed  Measures) 66 

19.  The  Elegiac  Distich  (Callinus,  Archilochus) 67 

20.  The  Lyric  Strophes  of  Horace 67 

21.  Epodic  Systems , 7' 

FOURTH   SECTION. 

On  Metrical  Licenses. 

22.  Preface 74 

23.  Metrical  Licenses 74 

FIFTH    SECTION. 
On  the  Rhythmical  Strccture  of  the  Verse. 

24.  General  Remarks 77 

25.  Rhythmical  Structure  of  the  Hexameter  and  Pentameter 79 

26.  Rhythmical  Structure  of  the  Remaining  Metres 83 

SIXTH  SECTION. 

Enclisis  and  Tmesis. 

27.  Enclisis   86 

28.  Tmesis 87 


12  Contents. 

SEVENTH    SECTION. 
On  the  Treatment  of  Successive  Vowel  Sounds. 

PAGE 

29.  Synizesis,  Diaeresis,  Crasis,  Elision,  Hiatus 89 

30.  Synizesis  in  Greelc 92 

31.  Synizesis  in  Latin 93 

32.  Diaeresis g^ 

12,-  Elision 96 

34.  Elision  in  Greek.     Crasis.     Aphreresis 97 

35.  Elision  in  Latin 98 

36.  Differences  in  Elision  in  Greek  and  Latin  \'erse loi 

37.  Hiatus 103 

38.  Hiatus  in  Greek 104 

39.  Hiatus  in  Latin 106 

EIGHTH   SECTION. 

Lengthening  by  Position. 

40.  General  Remarks 108 

41.  Greek loS 

42.  Latin   109 

NINTH   SECTION. 
Homeric  Prosody. 

43.  Peculiarities  of  Prosody  in  Homer ill 

TENTH    SECTION. 
Latin  Prosody. 

44.  Peculiarities  of  Latin  Prosody t  '  • 

ELEVENTH    SECTION. 
Lengthening. 

45.  Lengthening  by  the  Thesis  at  the  End  of  a  Woril 116 

46.  Greek 116 

47.  Latin 117 

Alphabetical  Tndi.x 119 


INTRODUCTION. 


0-0>d<CK> 

DEVELOPMENT   OF   CLASSICAL   VERSIFICATION. 
1.    General  Remarks. 

In  both  Greek  and  Latin  poetry  versification  depends 
solely  upon  tlie  length  of  the  single  syllable ;  that  is, 
upon  the  principle  of  quantity.  The  versification  of  the 
classic  peoples  developed  in  precisely  the  same  way  as  the 
plastic  art  of  the  Greeks,  and  for  the  metrical  form  of 
language,  originality  did  not  appear  to  the  poets  to  be 
the  most  important  requirement.  Rather  was  it  the  rule 
that  when  an  exceptional  genius  had  discovered  the  metrical 
form  best  adapted  to  a  particular  kind  of  poetry,  this  should 
be  preserved  ;  and  poets  preferred  developing  in  details  the 
approved  invention  of  another,  to  supplanting  it  by  a  new 
and  perhaps  less  suitable  form. 

Thus  the  Dactylic  Hexameter  became,  through  Homer,  the 
accepted  epic  verse  of  all  antiquity,  and  the  Iambic  Trimeter 
and  the  Trochaic  Tetrameter  Catalectic,  both  of  which  had 
their  origin  at  the  country  festivals  of  the  lonians,  remained 
the  favorite  metres  of  the  dialogue  of  tragedy  and  comedy, 
products  also  of  those  same  festivals,  long  after  these  had 
developed  into  artistic  poetical  form.  The  younger  generation 
of  Athenian  tragedians  followed  the  metrical  example  of  the 
great  masters  —  /Eschylus,   Sophocles,  and  Euripides. 

For  this   reason  a  continuous,   though  not  always    equally 


14  Development  of  Classical  Versification. 

active  and  intelligent,  tradition  of  metrical  art  runs  throughout 
antiquity.  This  was  greatly  furthered  by  the  guilds  of  poets 
formed  in  the  centres  of  ancient  culture,  e.g.  Athens,  Alexan- 
dria, and  Rome  ;  and  again  after  tlie  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  by  the  care  of  the  grammarians,  who  not  only  carefully 
analyzed  the  versification  of  the  classical  poets,  but  also  kept 
up  uninterrupted  intercourse  with  poets. 

2.    Greek  and  Roman  Versification  compared. 

If  the  Greek  versification  of  the  classical  age,  down  to  the 
time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  is  compared  with  the  Latin  up  to 
Hadrian's  time,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Greek  versification  is 
distinguished  by  originality,  boldness,  versatility,  grace,  and 
variability,  in  consequence  of  which  characteristics  it  some- 
times falls  into  arbitrary  and  irregular  forms  (though  the  Greek 
poets,  and  even  Homer  himself,  are  much  stricter  in  their 
versification  than  was  formerly  supposed),  while  the  Latin  is 
distinguished  by  earnestness,  dignity,  and  strictness  of  rule, 
which  descends  to  the  minutest  detail,  as  well  as  by  a  clear 
understanding  and  judicious  application  of  this  strictness. 
This  was  well  suited  to  the  peculiarities  of  the  Latin  language, 
the  strong,  energetic,  and  sonorous,  but  much  less  rich  and 
variable,  sister  tongue  of  the  Greek ;  although,  as  a  result, 
Latin  verse  sometimes  suffered  from  monotony,  pedantry,  and 
excessive  care. 

In  the  choice  of  metres  for  the  different  kinds  of  poetry  the 
Greeks  usually  surpassed  the  Romans  in  taste,  as  it  is  generally 
the  case  that  in  the  artificial  imitation  of  the  metres  of  another 
people  mistakes  in  use  easily  arise.  During  the  classical  period 
of  Roman  poetry  it  is  especially  the  polymetrical  forms  of  verse 
of  the  contemporaries  of  Cicero  that  show  uncertainty  and 
misconception  in  this  respect. 


Hexameter  and  Pentameter.  15 

I.   Greek. 
3.    Hexameter  and  Pentameter. 

The  oldest  verse  measure  of  a  people  is  naturally  Kara 
o-Tt'xov ;  that  is,  it  consists  of  one  verse,  recurring  as  often  as 
the  poet  pleases. 

The  first  measure  artistically  developed  among  the  Greeks 
was  the  Dactylic  Hexameter.  Its  inventor,  who  belonged  to 
the  Ionic  stock,  is  unknown.^ 

The  lightness  and  mobility  of  the  Ionic  dialect ;  its  richness 
in  short  syllables  ;  the  possibility  of  increasing  still  more  the 
number  of  these  short  syllables,  l)y  placing  long  final  vowels 
in  a  hiatus ;  the  possibility,  on  the  other  hand,  of  lengthening 
short  vowels  by  position,  or  at  the  close  of  words  by  the  thesis  ; 
the  varying  quantity  of  many  syllables,  and  the  substitution  of 
a  long  syllable  for  a  pyrrhic  arsis,  —  produced  the  rapid  and 
peculiar  development  of  this  metre,  of  which  the  oldest  repre- 
sentatives are  the  Homeric  Hymns  (about  900  B.C.)  and  the 
poems  of  Hesiod,  and  of  the  Homeric  and  Hesiodic  school 
(about  800  R.c). 

Monotony  of  rhythm  in  the  Hexameter  is  avoided  by 
the  change  from  dactyl  to  spondee,  and  by  the  different 
csesuras. 

This  metre  continued  to  hold  its  place  in  general  popularity, 
and,  until  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages,  was  used  in  the  most 
different  kinds  of  poetry.  Sanctioned  by  the  authority  of  the 
Homeric  poems,  it  influenced  not  only  the  dactylic  measures, 
but   also    the    other  different   metres.     Still   the    authority   of 

^  The  ancients  frequently  confuse  the  inventor  of  a  measure  with  the 
poet  who  first  introduced  it  in  literature,  and  so  metres  are  often  named, 
nut  after  tlieir  inventors,  hut  after  tlie  poet  Ijy  whom  they  were  most 
frequently  employed. 


1 6  Development  of  Classical  Versification. 

Homer  stood  very  much  in  the  way  of  the  proper  development 
of  the  Hexameter  from  a  popular  to  an  artistic  form,  because 
in  later  times  Homer's  metrical  rules  and  licenses  were 
partially  imitated,  while  the  linguistic  phenomena  which 
occasioned  them  were  in  large  part  not  understood ;  e.g. 
there  was  no  knowledge  of  the  digavima  ceolicum  as  used  by 
Homer.  The  evil  became  still  worse  in  this  respect,  that 
the  Alexandrian  poets  evolved  from  misunderstood  passages 
in  Homer  a  mass  of  absurd  rules  or  exceptions,  as  e.g.  the 
hypermetric  Hexameter,  and  a  new  metre,  the  Hexameter 
my  urns :  — 

—  WW    _lww    —  v_yw    —  WW    —  WW    WW 

Their  theories  in  turn  served  as  models  for  the  Greek  and 
Roman  poets. 

The  Pentameter  was  produced  by  repeating  the  first  half  of 
the  Hexameter  as  far  as  the  penthemimeral  caesura.  Hexam- 
eter and  Pentameter  together  formed  the  first  verse  system, 
the  Distich,  which  appears  for  the  first  time  in  the  work  of  the 
Ionic  poets  Callinus  and  Archilochus  (about  700  B.C.). 
Through  this  change  of  metre  the  verse  itself  became  more 
lively  and  passionate  than  in  the  unvarying  Hexameter,  and 
consequently  the  Distich  resulted  in  giving  more  room  for 
the  subjectivity  of  the  poet,  and  paved  the  way  for  lyric 
poetry. 

The  Distich  was  the  beginning  of  strophic  forms,  and  it 
shows  already  the  harmonious  and  artistic  finish  which  every 
strophe  of  the  Golden  Age  of  Greek  literature  has,  even 
if,  in  the  strophes  of  the  Doric  lyric  poets  and  the  dramatists, 
the  difficulty  of  their  formation  and  the  great  corruption  of 
the  text  often  prevent  us  from  completely  appreciating  the 
skill  displayed  in  their  composition. 


ALolic  Lyric  Poetry.  17 

4.    Archilochiis. 

FroiTi  early  times  it  had  been  customary  at  harvest  festivals 
and  vintage  time  to  recite  or  sing  songs  of  a  joking  or  mock- 
ing sort,  usually  written  in  alternate  form,  in  which  Iambic 
and  Trochaic  metres  were  employed.  In  these  measures  the 
thesis  was  not  fixed,  but  could  be  resolved ;  and  in  certain 
positions  of  the  arsis  a  short  vowel  could  be  replaced  at  pleas- 
ure by  a  long.  These  metres  came  forth  from  obscurity  into 
use  at  about  the  same  time  as  the  Distich,  through  the  poems 
of  one  of  the  greatest  artists  of  antic^uity,  —  Archilochus  of 
Paros,  —  who  with  perfect  artistic  knowledge  used  the  Iambic 
Trimeter  and  Trochaic  Tetrameter  Catalectic  in  their  greatest 
beauty.  He  also  employed  various  iambic  and  dactylic  metres, 
dactyls  with  anacrusis,  asynartetic  verses,  made  up  by  a  combi- 
nation of  dactylic  and  iambic  or  trochaic  measures.  At  the 
same  time  he  developed  the  Epodic  System,  particularly 
by  a  union  of  iambic  trimeters  and  dimeters,  but  also  from 
dactylic  or  asynartetic  and  iambic  (probably  also  trochaic) 
verses,  and  vice  versa. 

5.   .aiolic  Lyric  Poetry.  —  Anacreon.     Hipponax.     Ananius. 

After  Archilochus  Greek  versification  made  very  rapid  prog- 
ress. Among  those  especially  influential  in  its  development 
were  the  .-I'^olic  poets  Alcaeus  and  Sappho  (about  600  i;.c.), 
who  were  the  first  to  compose  real  strophes,  consisting  usually 
of  two  or  four  verses,  of  which  two  at  least  were  alike,  so  that 
the  metrical  elements  of  the  corresponding  verses  of  the 
strophes  were  in  general  quite  alike,  except  for  single  licenses 
in  the  basis,  anacrusis,  or  middle  of  the  verse.  These  poets 
seldom  employed  purely  dactylic  verse  either  in  strophic  or 
non-strophic  poems,  but  more  frequently  such  verse  preceded 


1 8  Development  of  Classical  Versification. 

by  a  dissyllabic  beat  of  any  quantity,  even  pyrrhic,  —  seldom 
iambic  or  trochaic,  —  apparently  without  a  resolution  of  the 
thesis,  but  especially  logaoedic,  ionici  a  /niiio?i  (sometimes 
also  a  luajori,  in  combination  with  trochees),  asynartetic 
measures,  and  mixed  metres  in  great  variety.  The  most 
remarkable  of  their  strophes  are  the  Sapphic,  Alcaic,  and 
Asclepiadean.  The  yEolic  poets  exercised  great  influence, 
especially  on  the  Alexandrians  and  the  Romans ;  e.g.  the 
metre  invented  by  Sappho,  but  named  hcndccasyUabus  pha- 
Icecius,  after  an  Alexandrian  poet,  was  very  often  employed 
by  both. 

Anacreon,  an  Ionian  of  Teos  (about  550  B.C.),  stands  about 
midway  between  the  versification  of  Archilochus  and  that  of 
Alcaeus  and  Sappho.  The  effeminacy  of  his  nature  appears 
especially  in  his  frequent  use  of  ionici  a  iiiiiiori,  Glyconics, 
and  the  Anacreontic  measures,  named  after  himself.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  other  fragments,  he  appears  as  in/iiieros  ani- 
mosqiie  sccutiis  Archilochi.  In  the  formation  of  systems  or 
strophes  he  was  very  fond  of  using  Glyconic  and  Pherecratean 
measures.  The  spurious  collection  of  poems  which  goes  under 
his  name  is  of  no  consequence  in  the  discussion  of  his  metrical 
forms.  At  about  this  same  time  the  lonians  Hipponax  and 
Ananius  gave  to  the  Iambic  Trimeter  and  Trochaic  Tetrameter 
Catalectic  a  new  form  by  changing,  in  a  curious  way,  the  last 
iambus  into  a  spondee,  accented  on  the  second  syllable  like 
the  original   iambus. 

These    "  limping    iambics "    found   great   favor   among   the 
Alexandrians   and   Romans. 

6.    Doric  Lyric  Poetry. 

The  freest  and  boldest  development  of  Greek  lyric  poetry 
took  place  among  the  Dorians.     While  the  /Eolic  and  Ionic 


Doric  Lyric  Poetry.  19 

lyrics  were  intended  primarily  to  be  rendered  by  soloists,  the 
Dorians  wrote  their  songs  principally  to  be  sung  by  the  chorus 
on  sacred  or  holiday  occasions,  so  that  one  of  these  poets, 
Stesichorus,  is  said  to  have  derived  his  name  from  this 
custom. 

The  Doric  (like  the  dramatic)  lyrical  poetry  preferred  in 
general  strophes  of  five  or  more  verses,  seldom  over  twenty, 
skilfully  combined  out  of  metres  differing  both  in  compass 
and  component  parts.  In  this  way  it  happened  that  two  or 
three  shorter  verses,  or  parts  of  verses,  were  united  into  one 
verse   (Periods). 

The  antistrophe .  corresponds  exactly  to  the  strophe.  After 
the  time  of  Stesichorus  the  antistrophe  was  often  followed 
by  the  epode,  to  which  the  following  epodes  must  exactly 
correspond. 

In  contrast  with  the  vivacity  of  the  lonians  and  the  passion 
of  the  Cohans,  the  lyric  poetry  of  the  Dorians  is  character- 
ized by  earnestness,  dignity,  and  calm  in  a  degree  appropriate 
to  its  object. 

Alcman  is  considered  the  father  of  Doric  lyric  poetry 
(about  612  B.C.).  He  was  followed  by  Stesichorus,  Arion, 
Ibycus,  Simonides,  Bacchylides,  and  finally  Pindar  about  480 
P..C.,  the  only  Doric  lyric  poet  from  whom  complete  poems 
have  come  down  to  us. 

The  last  offshoot  of  Greek  lyric  poetry  is  the  Dithyramb, 
originating  in  the  worship  of  Bacchus,  and  characterized  by 
the  boldness  and  variety  of  its  metres.  It  was  introduced 
into  literature   by  Arion   (about  600  n.c). 

Although  this  metre  also  was  at  first  antistrophic,  after  the 
year  400  b.c.  the  antistrophe  fell  away,  and  in  consequence 
of  this  the  Dithyramb  degenerated  into  such  looseness  that 
by  the   irregularity  of  its  structure    it  seems  to  have  passed 


20  Dcvelopvicnt  of  Classical  Versification. 

from    the    highest    point   of    thought    and    metre    into   mere 

prose. 

7.    The  Attic  Drama. 

The  drama  that  has  developed  out  of  the  songs  and 
dances  of  country  iestivals  is  a  combination  of  epic  and 
lyric  poetry  of  such  a  kind  that  the  dialogue  parts  repre- 
senting the  action  of  the  play  form  the  epic  element  ;  and 
the  songs  of  the  chorus  or  of  individual  members  of  the 
chorus  or  of  the  actors,  the  lyrical. 

In  a  corresponding  way,  as  regards  the  metres,  the  dia- 
logue is  usually  written  in  iambic  or  trochaic  verses  (especially 
iambic  trimeter,  more  rarely  trochaic  tetrameter  catalectic, 
in  comedy  frequently  in  iambic  tetrameter  catalectic)  ;  and 
the  songs  in  lyric  metres,  partly  those  used  by  the  earlier 
lyric  poets,  and  partly  new  and  free  inventions  of  the 
dramatists  appropriate  to  the  situation. 

Excellent  evidence  to  show  how  the  dramatists  regarded 
the  harmony  and  adaptation  of  the  metre  is  found  in  their 
Siichomythy  i  that  is,  the  frequent  cases  where  question  and 
answer  correspond  with  each  other  exactly  in  compass 
(usually  one  verse,  sometimes  two  or  more). 

The  songs  of  the  whole  chorus  which  enters  when  the 
action  has  reached  a  point  of  rest  or  change,  and  also 
marks  the  end  of  an  act,  are  characterized  by  the  calmness 
and  dignity  of  the  rhythm.  The  songs  of  the  individual 
members  of  the  chorus  and  the  actors  show  more  liveliness, 
excitement,  and  variation,  especially  in  Euripides,  and  fre- 
quently lack  the  antistrophic  form  (aTroAcAD/AcVa). 

The  metrical  style  of  ^Eschylus  is  strict  and  regular,  some- 
times even  harsh  and  rigid.  The  versification  of  Euripides  is 
free  and  graceful,  though  often  careless  and  arbitrary,  or  show- 
ing a  striving  after  effect.     These  faults  are  particularly  con- 


TJic  Attic  Drama.  1i 

spicuous  in  the  lyrical  parts,  however  much  they  may  please 
us  by  the  change  of  measures  and  variety  of  rhythm. 

Sophocles  stands,  in  respect  to  metre,  midway  between 
the  two  ;  but,  in  general  with  the  year  424  B.C.,  the  metre 
of  the  tragedians  becomes  freer  and  les^s  exact,  as  is 
shown  by  the  Philoctetes  of  Sophocles  and  the  later  dramas 
of  Euripides. 

Euripides,  who  differs  strikingly  in  the  metres  of  the  dia- 
logue, and  still  more  in  the  lyrical  parts,  from  his  prede- 
cessors, has  had  the  greatest  influence  upon  the  later  writers 
of  Attic  tragedy. 

Among  the  comedians,  Aristophanes  far  surpassed  all  others 
in  wealth  of  expression,  skill,  and  tasteful  employment  of  met- 
rical forms,  and  was  for  this  reason  ranked  by  antiquity  with 
Archilochus.  It  goes  without  saying  that  the  versification  of 
tragedy  is  distinguished  from  that  of  comedy  by  its  greater 
force  and  dignity,  while  the  rhythm  of  comedy  is  gayer  and 
freer.  This  fact  is  apparent  not  only  in  the  choruses  but 
also  in  the  dialogue,  and  particularly  noticeable  in  the  ready 
admission  of  anapossts  in  all  the  feet  of  the  comic  trimeter 
except  the  last. 

The  epode  rarely  occurs  in  tragedy,  and  not  always,  as 
in  the  lyrical  poetry  of  the  1  )orians,  after  one  pair  of 
strophes,  but  even  after  two  qr  three,  though  without  epodic 
correspondence  taking  place,  as  in  Pindar. 

The  dramatists  were  very  fond  of  the  anapgestic  metre, 
which  had  been  used  in  marching-songs  by  the  Spartans 
from  earliest  times.  It  was  often  employed,  parUy  in  cho- 
ruses, especially  where  there  was  some  movement  of  the 
chorus  or  announcement  by  tlie  leader  of  the  chorus,  and 
partly  in  tlie  songs  of  the  actors,  particularly  where  these 
expressed  sorrow  or  complaint. 


22  Development  of  Classical  Versification. 

The  anapaestic  system  consists  of  dimeters  interspersed 
with  monometers,  and  forms  usually  the  close  of  the  cata- 
lectic  dimeter  inversus  parooniaciis).  —  The  catalectic  tetra- 
meter was  used  only  in  comedy. 

The  lyrical  portions,  especially  the  strophes  and  anti- 
strophes,  show  the  same  variety  of  metres  as  the  Doric  lyric 
poetry. 

Along  with  iambic  and  trochaic  rhythms,  which  are  used 
with  peculiar  licenses  in  the  resolution  of  the  thesis,  neglect 
of  the  caesura,  suppression  of  the  arsis,  etc.,  which  are  not 
allowed  in  the  dialogues,  we  find  also  dactylic  measures, 
often  with  anacrusis,  epitrites,  cretics,  paeons,  ionici  a  minopi 
(not  a  »iaJon'),  dactylo-trochees,  seldom  dactylo-epitrites, 
bacchics,  and  other  verses. 

The  dochmiac  rhythm  deserves  special  mention,  of  which 
the  original  forms,  as  well  as  the  most  usual,  are  these  :  — 

■ —      ■'       y  / 


From  this  were  developed  numerous  other  forms  by  reso- 
lution of  the  theses  and  by  replacing  the  short  syllable 
preceding  the  last  by  a  long. 

The  dochmiac  measure  is  sometimes  combined  with  the 
cretic  and  trochaic,  seldom  with  the  bacchic  and  logaLtdic, 
and  most  frequently  with  the  iambic.  It  occurs  rarely  in 
the  comedians,  and  still  more  rarely  among  the  Dorians, 
but  very  frequently  in  tragedy,  especially  to  express  com- 
plaint and  pain. 

Among  the  logaoedic  verses,  the  favorite  metres  were  the 
Glyconic  and  Pherecratean,  partly  in  the  stricter  form  of 
Anacreon,  partly  in  the  manner  of  the  Dorians  (with  great 
freedom    in    the    structure    of    the    basis),    and    partly,    after 


Alexandrian  and  Later  Greek  Poets.  23 

Sophocles,  with  transposition  of  the  dactyl  in  polyschematic 
form.  Not  infrequently,  as  among  the  Dorians,  shorter 
verses,  or  parts  of  verses,  were  united  to  form  a  longer  verse 
or  period. 

In  the  fourth  century  the  choral  lyrical  part  of  tragedy 
degenerated,  in  the  same  way  as  the  dithyramb,  into  loose- 
ness and  trifling  (illustrated  by  Chccremon)  ;  the  Middle  and 
New  Comedy  lacked  the  chorus,  although  not  the  lyric 
measures. 

8.    The  Alexandrian  and  the  Later  Greek  Poets. — 

Nonuus. 

The  independent  development  of  Greek  versification  ex- 
tends to  about  the  age  of  Alexander  the  Great  (330  k.c). 
In  the  following,  so-called  Alexandrian  (330-30  b.c),  as 
well  as  in  the  Roman  and  Byzantine  periods,  hardly  any 
addition  was  made  to  the  previous  stock  of  metres.  The 
Sotadeus,  indeed. 


was  an  invention  of  the  Alexandrians  ;  but  in  point  of  fact 
the  old  Greeks  had  created  such  an  astonishing  number  of 
different  sorts  of  metres,  systems,  and  strophes,  that  any 
increase  was  scarcely  possible.  The  later  Greeks  restricted 
this  metrical  wealth,  since  in  general  they  limited  themselves 
to  a  comparatively  small  number  of  metres  and  short  systems 
or  strophes,  and  usually  imitated  in  a  mechanical  way  the 
Ionic  and  yI''olic  poets.  Poetry  written  Kara  cTTiyov 
predominated,  just  as  it  did  among  the  Romans  after 
Augustus,  and  in  this  manner  the  Greeks  as  well  as  the 
Romans  often  employed  verses  which  previously  had  formed 
parts  of  a  system. 


24  Development  of  Classieal  Versification. 

A  marked  peculiarity  of  the  Alexandrian  and  later  poets 
was  the  tendency  towards  artificial  verses,  the  most  remark- 
able examples  of  which  are  found  in  the  poems  of  Simmias, 
Dosiadas,  and  Besantinus  (Anthologia  Lyrica,  ed.  Bergk 
p.  511  sqq.).  Another  peculiarity  was  a  great,  and  often 
pedantic  and  affected,  carefulness  in  the  structure  of  their 
favorite  metres,  in  which  attempt  they  were  powerfully 
assisted  by  the  grammarians,  and,  in  fact,  often  led  astray 
by  their  false   theories. 

Almost  at  the  end  of  Greek  literature  in  the  fifth  century 
A.D.,  probably  under  the  influence  of  Roman  versification, 
Nonnus  wrote  hexameter  verse  of  remarkable  strictness  and 
consistency,  though  not  always  with  success,  inasmuch  as  he 
had  a  decided  preference  for  the  dactyl  (always  in  the  fifth 
foot),  made  the  ro\xJr]  Kara  TpLTov  Tpoxalov  the  ruling  pause, 
avoided  a  word-end  in  the  fourth  trochee,  introduced  once 
more  the  strict  rules  of  position,  greatly  limited  cases  of 
elision,  and  still  more  cases  of  hiatus,  and  gave  up  length- 
ening short  final  syllables  in  the  thesis.  Though  the  next 
succeeding  poets  followed  his  example,  Nonnus  lived  too 
late  to  effect  any  thorough  reform  in  Greek  versification. 
While  music  and  dancing  or  rhythmical  movements  of  the 
body  were  inseparable  from  the  lyrical  poetry  of  the  old 
Greeks,  after  the  Alexandrian  period  versification  and 
music  were  sharply  distinguished.  The  later  Greek  poets, 
even  the  dramatists,  intended  their  works  principally  for 
reading  or  recitation  without  musical  accompaniment. 

II.   Roman. 
9.    The  Earliest  Period  until  Ennius. 

The    oldest     metre    of    the    Romans    was    the    Saturnian, 


The  Earliest  Period  until  Ennins.  25 

whose  original  form   was   made  up  by  combining  an  iambic 
and  trochaic  series  :  — 

malum  dabunt   Metelli  Naevio  poetae. 

This  verse,  which  in  course  of  time  became  confused  on 
account  of  neglect  of  the  caesura  and  frequent  suppression 
of  the  third,  and  especially  the  sixth,  arsis,  could  not,  after 
the  Punic  wars,  satisfy  the  artistic  feeling  of  the  Romans. 
It  vanished  with  Naivius  (died  about  200  B.C.),  although  it 
was  occasionally  employed  by  later  poets,  lilce  Accius, 
Varro,  and  Terentianus  Maurus,  in  learned  imitation  of 
their  predecessors. 

Since  on  occasions  of  public  and  private  festivity,  the 
liidi  sccV7uci  were  presented  as  well  as  the  litdi  circcnses, 
Livius  Andronicus  (after  240  B.C.),  and  his  successors  in 
tragedy  and  comedy,  —  Naevius,  Plautus,  Terence,  Ennius, 
Pacuvius,  Accius,  and  others,  —  appropriated  the  scenic 
metres  of  the  Greek  drama,  iambic,  trochaic,  anapaestic, 
cretic,  bacchic,  occasionally  also  dactylic,  yet  with  the 
greatest  licenses ;  as  e.g.  the  short  arsis  in  iambics  and 
trochees  could  always  be  lengthened,  except  in  the  last 
iambic  foot.  In  the  resolution  of  the  thesis  and  arsis,  in 
the  use  of  elision  and  synizesis,  and  in  other  respects,  they 
often  transgressed  the  rules.  Further,  in  prosody  they  made 
use  of  many  irregularities,  occasioned  by  the  archaic  or 
plebeian  pronunciation  of  the  Latin  language  which  had 
been   so  long  neglected. 

In  the  dialogue  parts  the  Romans,  like  the  Greeks,  used 
principally  the  iambic  trimeter  and  trochaic  tetrameter 
catalectic,  and  in  comedy  the  iambic  tetrameter  catalectic 
also.      These    metres   attained    a   comparatively  high   degree 


26  Development  of  Classical  Versification. 

of  finish,  while  the  other  iambic  and  trochaic  metres,  still 
more  the  cretic  and  bacchic,  and  the  anap?estic  most  of 
all,  remained  in  a  very  rude  stage  of  development. 

There  was  no  chorus  in  Latin  drama  until  the  time  of 
Augustus,  but  there  were  lyrical  passages  {cantica)  sung  by 
the  actors,  which  were  usually  written  in  auapsestic,  cretic, 
and  bacchic  metres.  In  general  the  old  dramatists,  up  to 
the  end  of  the  Republic,  and  particularly  after  the  year 
150  B.C.,  influenced  by  the  contemporaneous  dactylic  poets, 
show  a  continual  effort  after  a  greater  development  of  their 
art.  On  the  other  hand,  the  number  of  their  metres 
steadily  decreased,  as  is  shown  by  a  comparison  of  Plautus 
and  Terence,  so  that  finally  the  principal  metres  employed 
in  the  drama  were  the  iambic  trimeter  and  the  trochaic 
tetrameter  catalectic,  which  were  universally  popular. 

The  last  representative  of  the  old  iambic  versification 
was  the  fabulist  Pha^drus  (about  50  a.d.),  who,  in  view  of 
the  Proverbs  of  Syrus,  then  much  in  vogue,  admitted  in  his 
own  fables,  which  were  also  devoted  to  ethical  purposes, 
the  spondee  in  the  even  feet  of  the  iambic  trimeter,  but 
elsewhere  showed  almost  nothing  of  the  peculiarities  of 
Plautus  and  Terence.  Iambic  and  trochaic  poetry,  with 
the  same  free  use  of  the  spondee,  appears  occasionally  in 
the  antiijuarian  period  of  the  Frontonians  (about  150  a.d.) 
and  at  the  end  of  Roman  literature,  in  consequence  of  the 
increasing  decadence  of  culture. 

10.    Emiius.     Luciliiis.     Accius. 

As  there  was  some  reason  to  fear  that  the  Latin  language 
would  afjain  degenerate  into  the  rudeness  of  the  Saturnian 
verse  through  the  irregularity  of  the  dramatic  metres  and 
prosody,   great    credit    is   due   to   Ennius    (239-169    B.C.)    for 


Enniiis.      LiicHiiis.     Ace?  us.  27 

his  intiodiictioii  of  the  dactyhc  hexameter,  imitated  with 
care  and  general  good  taste  from  Homer.  Resolution  of 
the  thesis  was  excluded  from  Ennius'  hexameter,  and  he 
adhered  as  closely  as  possible  to  the  model  of  the  Greeks 
in  matters  of  prosody,  as  the  prosody  of  Latin  had  been 
originally  homogeneous  with  that  of  Greek,  and  had 
degenerated  only  after  the  lapse  of  time.  Ennius  still 
retained  the  original  long  quantity  of  the  final  syllables  in 
at,  et,  it  (2d  pers.  as,  es,  'is),  as  well  as  the  contem- 
poraneous dramatists.  Further,  Ennius  employed  in  his 
Satires  the  elegiac  distich,  besides  the  most  common  metres 
of  the  dramatists,  the  iambic  trimeter  and  the  trochaic 
tetrameter  catalectic,  and  finally,  in  imitation  of  the  Alexan- 
drians, the  wonderful  Sotadic  measure,  though  with  various 
licenses. 

Although  there  are  cases  of  harshness,  the  great  majority 
of  Ennius'  hexameters  are  of  remarkable  beauty,  because  of 
the  evident  genius  of  the  poet,  who  <^,<,'-.  has  far  fewer  cases 
of  elision  in  the  Annalcs  than  any  poet  of  the  Republic, 
and  also  because  of  his  rich  and  comprehensive  knowledge 
of  Latin,  (ireek,  and  Oscan  ;  but  above  all,  because  of 
the  fact  that  Roman  versification  already  before  Ennius 
had  followed  the  (quantitative  principle  exclusively,  so  that 
he  had  only  to  remove  the  abuses  of  prosody  which  had 
crept  in  during  the  rude  state  of  the  language  between  350 
and  250  r,.c.  It  is  ([uite  evident  that  Ennius  attempted  to 
direct  the  attention  of  Roman  poets  to  the  strictness  and 
consistency  of  the  metrical  art.  He  exercised  an  immense 
influence  over  all  later  writers,  the  more  so  because,  until 
Vergil's  time,  his  much-praised  epic,  the  Annaks,  was  the 
most  popular  glorification  of  the  heroic  deeds  of  the  old 
Romans. 


28  Development  of  Classical  Versification. 

Next  followed  the  satirist  Lucilius,  who  employed  the 
hexameter  principally,  besides  the  other  metres  used  by 
Ennius,  in  his  Satires,  though  he  disdained  the  Sotadic. 
He  marks  an  advance  in  metrical  art,  although  there  is  no 
lack  of  harsh  usages  which  are  partially  excused  by  the 
light  colloquial  tone  of  satire.  Accius,  in  his  non-dramatic 
poetry,  followed  the  metrical  principles  of  Ennius. 

H.    Contemporaries  of  Cicero. 

Until  the  time  of  Cicero  the  dactylic  poets  contented 
themselves  with  the  metres  employed  by  Ennius ;  but  they 
zealously  furthered  their  artistic  development.  The  most 
perfect  example  of  this  effort  is  the  poem  of  Lucretiu's, 
composed  correctly  and  according  to  rule,  but  without 
grace  and  variety  of  rhythm. 

The  younger  contemporaries  of  Cicero,  led  by  Lcevius, 
hke  Catullus,  Calvus,  and  others,  disdained  that  simplicity, 
and  introduced  into  Roman  poetry  a  great  number  of 
metres,  mostly  or  wholly  borrowed  from  the  Alexandrians, 
and  which  they  used  in  general  with  great  skill.  Of  course 
the  hexameter  was  not  neglected  (cf.  Varro  Atacinus),  but 
the  distich  remained  undeveloped.  Catullus  was  the  first 
among  the  Romans  to  show  attention  to  the  .Eolic  poetry, 
by  imitating  Sappho.  It  is  possible  also  that  he  was 
somewhat  influenced  by  Anacreon.  The  Horatian  epode 
was  not  unknown  to  this  period;  on  the  contrary,  in  imita- 
tion of  the  Alexandrians,  poets  already  formed  iambic  and 
trochaic  metres  of  various  kinds  according  to  the  strict 
metrical  laws  of  the  Greeks  ;  indeed,  pure  iambic  lines  with 
complete  exclusion  of  every  other  foot. 

Hipponactean  Iambics  and  Hendecasyllabic  Phalceceans 
were  particular  favorites. 


Augustan  Age.  29 

Between  Lucretius  and  Catullus,  beside  Laevius,  stood 
Varro  Reatinus,  who  shows  in  his  Satires,  in  imitation  of 
the  Alexandrians,  great  skill  together  with  great  variety 
of  versification.  He  also  employed  iambic,  trochaic,  and 
Sotadic  verses  with  the  freedom  of  Ennius  and  Lucilius. 

The  verse-systems  found  in  Catullus  are  the  two-lined 
Asclepiadean,  the  four-lined  Sapphic,  and  two  Glyconics 
closing  with  a  Pherecratean,  one  four-lined,  and  one  con- 
sisting of  three  and  two  lines. 

Catullus'  versification  had  imitators  and  friends  even  in 
the  Augustan  Age,  and  in  the  first  century  a.d.  His  great 
variety  of  metres  did  not  meet  with  general  approval.  The 
Phalaecean  continued  to  be  popular  until  the  end  of  Roman 
literature,  and  the  Hipponactean  until  the  time  of  Trajan, 
though  both  were  more  strictly  treated. 

12.    Augustan  Age. 

The  age  of  Augustus  (40  is.c.  to  14  a.d.)  brought  the 
development  of  Roman  metre  to  a  close. 

The  hexameter  was  brought  to  its  highest  perfection  by 
Vergil  and  Ovid.  Vergil,  indeed,  believed  that  he  could 
not  wholly  eliminate  the  Ucenses  which  tlie  older  Romans, 
especially  Ennius,  had  allowed  in  respect  to  the  rhythmical 
laws  of  the  hexameter,  harsh  elision  and  hiatus,  synizesis, 
lengthening  of  a  final  syllable  in  the  thesis,  etc.  Ijut  he 
used  them  rarely  and  moderately,  usually  only  to  paint  the 
situation  by  the  rhythm  of  the  verse,  —  an  art  in  which  he 
is  a  master.  Unfortunately,  his  versification  is  sometimes 
disfigured  by  a  pctlantic  imitation  of  the  Alexandrian 
philologists  where  they  had  misunderstood  Homeric  verses. 

Ovid  diminished  still  more  the  number  of  licenses  which 
Vergil   had   allowed,   so   that,  although  the   hexameters  of  the 


30  Development  of  Classieal  Versifieation. 

Metamorphoses  are  somewhat  freer  than  the  elegiacs,  his 
verses,  considered  singly,  are  the  most  beautiful  models  of 
harmony  and  metrical  skill. 

If  read  for  any  length  of  time,  however,  they  grow  tire- 
some because  of  their  too  great  similarity,  especially  as 
Ovid  comparatively  seldom  makes  use  of  that  rhythmical 
portraiture  in  which  Vergil  was  so  skilful. 

In  the  hexameter  of  Satire,  which  was  distinguished  from 
the  prose  language  cjf  the  educated  only  by  its  metre, 
Horace  preserved  the  licenses  of  Lucihus,  but  lessened  his 
harshness.  The  verse  of  the  Epistles,  especially  of  the 
second  book,  is  considerably  more  polished  than  that  of 
the  Satires.  As  would  be  expected  in  this  sort  of  poetry, 
the  licenses  borrowed  from  the  Greeks  by  poets  of  tlfe 
higher  style,  e.g.  hiatus  and  a  sjjondee  in  the  fifth  foot,  are 
almost  wholly  avoided. 

The  distich  also,  which  in  Catullus  still  appeared  rude, 
was  perfected  by  Tibullus,  by  Propertius  in  his  later  works, 
and  particularly  by  Ovid,  although  the  latter,  in  the  works 
written  during  his  exile,  dropped  something  of  the  metrical 
strictness  shown  in  his  erotic  poetry. 

Horace  introduced  the  epodic  versification  of  Archilochus 
into  Roman  poetry,  and  also  the  lyrical  measures  of  the 
zEolic  poets  Alca^us  and  Sappho.  Archilochus  and  Ana- 
creon  also  may  have  had  some  influence  on  the  versification 
of  the  Odes.  It  is  not  certain  whether  the  two  metres 
not  met  with  in  Greek  (Od.  I.  8;  Ep.  13),  were  invented 
by  Horace  or  not ;  also  whether  the  division  of  the  strophes 
into  four  lines,  which  is  the  universal  rule  in  the  Odes,  —  for 
Od.  IV.  8  is  interpolated,  —  was  borrowed  from  Alcaeus  or 
not. 

In  general,  we  are   in  the  dark  about  the  origin  of  many 


Aligns  tan  Age.  31 

of  the  strophes  of  Horace,  on  account  of  the  loss  of  his 
Greek  models  and  the  contradictory  statements  of  the  Latin 
grammarians. 

On  the  other  hand,  Horace  paid  full  regard  to  the  spirit 
of  the  Latin  language,  partly  by  setting  aside,  and  partly 
by  reducing  to  a  very  small  number,  those  licenses  which 
the  ^olic  poets  had  allowed  themselves  in  respect  to 
caesura  and  syllaba  anccps,  and  consequently  his  metres 
became  more  equal  and  dignified.  Thus,  for  instance,  the 
Asclepiads  and  the  eleven-syllabled  Alcaics  and  Sapphics 
received  a  firmly  fixed  caesura.  In  the  Asclepiads  the  basis 
was  always  a  spondee,  and  the  Alcaic  and  Sapphic  verses 
had  a  spondee  always  before  the  caesura.  Still  Horace  has 
more  cases  of  elision  in  his  lyrical  measures  than  the 
tragedian  Seneca,  and  further  allows  monosyllabic  conjunc- 
tions and  prepositions  at  the  caesura  and  at  the  end  of  the 
verse,  contrary  to  Seneca's'  usage.  No  advance  was  ever 
made  by  the  Romans  beyond  the  lyrical  versification  of 
Horace.  The  attempt,  condemned  by  Horace,  but  made 
by  his  contemporaries,  to  imitate  the  Odes  of  Pindar,  found 
no  sympathy. 

In  the  time  of  Augustus,  tragedy,  which  had  been  zeal- 
ously cultivated  in  opposition  to  comedy,  was  emancipated 
from  the  metrical  traditions  of  the  Republic,  and  its  iambics 
and  trochaics  were  constructed  according  to  the  model  of 
the  Greek  tragedians,  and  the  rule  adopted  from  the  Alex- 
andrians, that  tlie  foot  preceding  the  last  iambus  in  the 
iambic  trimeter  and  trochaic  tetrameter  catalectic  must 
necessarily  be  a  spondee  or  an  anapaest.  In  general,  much 
greater  freedom  was  allowed  the  anapaest  in  iambic  trimeter 
in  Latin  tragedy  than  in  Greek.  At  the  same  time  the 
chorus  was  introduced,  —  that  is,  in  the  manner  of  Euripides, — 


32  Dcvclopuicnt  of  Classical  Versification. 

with  a  loose  relation  to  the  action  of  the  drama  from  which 
was  taken  only  a  point  of  departure  for  general  descrip- 
tions and  reflections.  In  these  choruses  anapjEstic  mono- 
meters  were  employed  in  a  most  unartistic  manner,  besides 
the  dactylic  and  logaoedic  metres  illustrated  in  Seneca. 

13.    The  First  Centuries  after  Christ. 

The  first  century  after  Christ,  until  Hadrian  (117), 
represents  the  Alexandrian  period  of  Roman  versification. 
No  further  enrichment  was  made,  and  there  were  but  few 
attempts  to  employ  a  great  number  of  metres.  Poets  con- 
tented themseh'es  with  a  consistent  and  tasteful  though  not 
infrequently  pedantic  improvement  of  the  metres  already  in 
use.  y 

The  grammarians  were  responsible  for  many  false  expla- 
nations of  the  metrical  peculiarities  of  Vergil,  who  was 
studied  with  equal  zeal,  and  enjoyed  the  same  authority 
among  the  Romans  as  Homer  among  the  Greeks,  although 
their  erroneous  theories  exercised  little  influence  over  the 
better  poets  even  to  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  as  is 
shown  by  Claudianus  and  Rutilius  Namatianus  in  the  time 
of  Honorius.  Moreover,  it  was  unfortunate  that  the  taste 
for  the  four-lined  strophes  of  Horace,  with  the  exception 
of  the  ever-popular  Sapphic,  disappeared  so  quickly,  as  the 
choruses  of  Seneca  prove.  Instead,  poets  began  to  use  the 
Ivrical  measures  of  Horace  in  poetry  written  Kara  cni^v. 
In  a  very  peculiar  manner  Seneca,  in  two  tragedies 
(Agamemnon  and  G<^dipus),  combined  freer  chorus  songs 
out  of  the  short  verses  or  portions  of  verses  of  Horace. 
In  the  last  centuries  this  custom  of  making  new  verses  out 
of  parts  of  Horatian  metres  became  more  common.  In 
other  respects  the  metrical  art  was  very  carefully  developed 


Antiqitarian    Tendency  in    Versification.  33 

in  the  most  minute  details,  so  that  hcenses  which  were 
common  in  the  Augustan  poets  became  rare,  and  those 
which  were  infrequent  in  the  Augustan  poetry  were  almost 
unknown. 

The  post-Augustan  poets  generally  took  Vergil  and  Ovid 
for  their  models,  but  gave  the  most  weight  to  Ovid's 
example.  For  as  his  distich  was  the  pattern  for  most  of 
them,  so  his  influence  was  very  considerable  on  the  form 
of  the  other  dactylic  and  logacedic  metres.  In  other  lines 
Horace's  lyrical  and  satirical  metres  were  models.  Remark 
has  already  been  made  about  Catullus'  influence   (cf.  11). 

Here,  too,  must  be  mentioned  that  tendency,  noticed 
already  among  the  later  Greeks,  towards  playing  with  words 
and  affectations,  which  became  stronger  and  stronger,  the 
more  the  want  of  real  substance  in  poetry  was  felt.  The 
most  remarkable  example,  unique  in  its  kind,  of  this 
tendency    is     the     poetry    of    Porfyrius     Optatianus     (about 

14.    Antiquarian  Tendency  in  Versification. 

After  the  time  of  Hadrian  and  Fronto  an  antiquarian 
tendency  made  its  influence  felt  in  Roman  poetry,  to- 
gether with  the  steady  imitation  of  Augustan  versification, 
so  that  occasionally  not  only  iambic  and  trochaic  verses 
were  written  with  the  metrical  (not  prosodical)  licenses  of 
Plautus,  but  also  poets  returned  to  the  metrical  variety 
of  Laevius  and  Catullus,  as  is  seen  in  Septimius  Serenus  and 
Terentianus  Maurus,  poets  of  the  third  century.  Their 
example  was  followed  by  the  Christian  writers  after  the 
fourth  century,  although  they  also  employed  the  verses  of 
Horace  in  their  poetry. 


34  Development  of  Classical  Versification. 

III. 
15.    Final  State  of  Greek  and  Roman  Versification. 

The  state  of  both  Greek  and  Roman  versification  after 
the  third  century  is  so  nearly  the  same  that  the  subject 
can  be  treated  as  one. 

In  both  languages  the  most  common  metres  continued 
to  be  the  dactylic  hexameter  and  pentameter,  as  well  as 
various  iambic  and  trochaic  verses ;  in  Greek  the  iambic 
trimeter,  in  Latin  the  trochaic  tetrameter  catalectic  and  the 
iambic  dimeter,   partly   Kara  (jriypv,  partly  in  strophes. 

As  is  shown  by  the  latest  ancient  and  by  the  mediaeval 
Greek  and  Roman  poets,  all  appreciation  of  the  strophe 
which,  in  ancient  times,  had  represented  the  harmonious 
combination  of  different  verses  into  one  artistic  whole, 
had  vanished.  All  combinations  of  like  or  unlike  verses, 
repeated  in  the  same  succession  of  verses  and  in  the 
same  numbers,  if  only  they  had  a  decided  stop  at  the 
end,  were  considered  as  strophes.  Such  "strophes"  were 
especially  used  for  religious  purposes  (Christian  hymns). 
In  the  structure  of  these  hymns,  among  the  Greeks  after 
Gregorius  Nazianzenus  (360),  the  most  serviceable  metre 
was  the  iambic  trimeter,  and  sometimes  the  catalectic 
iambic  dimeter  and  Anacreontics :  among  the  Romans  the 
most  used  metres  were  the  iambic  dimeter  and  the 
catalectic  trochaic  tetrameter. 

At  this  same  time  men  began  to  lose  the  exact  appreci- 
ation of  the  peculiar  appropriateness  of  each  metre.  From 
the  third  century  Roman  poets  (Alfius  Avitus,  and  later 
Festus  Avienus)  had  employed  iambic  metres  in  epic 
representation,  and  the  same  thing  was  done  in  Greek  in 
the   seventh    century   by   Georgius    Pisides.      On    the    other 


Final  State  of  Greek  and  Rotnan  Versification.     35 

hand,  after  the  same  date,  Latin  tragedies  (Medea  and 
Orestes)  had  been  written  in  hexameter.  So,  too,  in  lyric 
poetry  httle  taste  was  shown  in  the  choice  of  metres,  as 
we  see  in  the  case  of  Ausonius  and  Prudentius  about 
400   A.D. 

When  after  the  third  century  thorough  culture  and, 
together  with  that,  the  appreciation  of  language  decHned, 
the  erroneous  theories  of  the  grammarians  exercised  con- 
tinually greater  influence  on  the  ancient  versification,  and, 
further,  many  Roman  poets,  especially  the  Christians,  began 
to  neglect  quantities,  at  first  in  proper  names,  particularly 
Greek,  or  in  long  words  which  were  unsuited  to  the  verse. 
This  became  much  worse  in  the  Middle  Ages,  though  here, 
too,  the  poets  were  very  different  according  to  their  time 
and  training.  Among  the  Greeks  the  laws  of  prosody  were 
more  strictly  enforced.  But  the  Byzantine  poets,  even  the 
best  of  them  after  Georgius  Pisides,  allowed  themselves  to 
make  the  letters  a,  t,  r,  which  have  not  different  forms  for 
long  and  short,  either  long  or  short,  except  when  length- 
ened by  a  strong  position ;  y]  and  w  and  the  diphthongs 
were  always  long,  e  and  o  short,  when  a  single  consonant 
followed,  and  frequently  when  in  weak  position.  Proper 
names  and  technical  terms  were  treated  very  freely.  The 
extinction  of  the  old  spirit  of  the  language  was  shown  in  this 
fact  that  many  Christian  poets  of  Rome  allowed  no  resolu- 
tion of  the  thesis  in  iambic  and  trochaic  feet,  and  in 
general  avoided  trisyllabic  feet,  as  was  the  rule  among  the 
Greeks  after  Georgius  Pisides. 

Nevertheless,  the  quantitative  poetry  of  the  Middle  Ages 
was  stricdy  separated  in  the  consciousness  of  the  poets 
from  the  rhythmical.  A  remarkable  proof  of  this  lies  in  the 
fact   that   the   Byzantine   poets   who   observed    the    principle 


36  DevelopDunt  of  Classical  Versification. 

of  quantity,  when  writing  in  iambics,  always  had  a  paroxy- 
tone  word  at  the  end  of  the  trimeter.  They  wished  thus 
to  show  that  their  verse  took  no  account  of  grammatical 
accent,  but  rather  that  in  the  manner  of  the  ancients  the 
rhythmical  accent  differed  as  much  as  possible  from  the 
grammatical. 

16.    Rhythmical   Poetry. 

On  account  of  the  extinction  of  the  appreciation  of  long 
and  short  syllables,  there  was  developed  among  the  Romans 
after  the  third  century,  and  among  the  Greeks  in  the  first 
half  of  the  Middle  Ages  when  not  earlier,  the  so-called 
rhythmical  poetry,  which,  being  steadily  emancipated  from 
the  rules  of  prosody,  though  at  first  observing  rhythmical 
laws,  led  naturally  to  the  observance  of  the  grammatical 
accent  in  certain  cases,  and  restored,  in  Latin,  beside  the 
dactylic  hexameter,  generally  popular  iambic  and  trochaic 
metres,  especially  the  iambic  dimeter  and  catalectic  trochaic 
tetrameter ;  in  Greek  it  restored  the  iambiciis  septenarius, 
which  had  always  been  popular,  the  so-called  versus 
poHticus,  which  always  consisted  of  fifteen  syllables.  This 
metre  was  very  common  among  the  educated  also  after  the 
twelfth  century.  In  this,  as  in  the  rhythmical  verses  of  the 
Romans,  the  ccesura  was  generally  retained  {e.g.  in  the  versus 
politicus  after  the  fourth  thesis),  just  as  was  usual  in  metrical 
poetry.  The  same  remarks  apply  to  the  strophes  of  rhyth- 
mical poetry  that  were  made  above,  about  the  metrical 
strophes  of  the  end  of  antiquity  and  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  last  thing  to  be  noticed  is,  that  in  most  of  the 
Greek  and  Latin  poets  of  the  Middle  Ages  all  apprecia- 
tion of  the  difference  between  poetic  and  prosaic  produc- 
tions was  lost.  Everything  possible  was  written  in  verse, 
even  such  themes  as  lie  farthest  distant  from  real  poetry. 


FIRST   SECTION. 


-oO>©:;CK>- 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTION. 
1.    Rhythm  and  Metre. 

The  euphony  of  the  classical  languages  depends,  in  prose, 
upon  the  Rhythm  {nutnerns) ;  that  is,  upon  a  grouping  of 
the  words  of  the  sentence,  especially  at  its  beginning  and 
end,  which  is  harmonious  and  pleasing  to  the  ear.  In 
poetry  it  depends  upon  the  Metre ;  that  is,  the  artistic 
combination  of  long  and  short  syllables  in  verse,  system, 
or  strophe. 

In  olden  times,  in  the  structure  of  verse,  the  principle 
of  quantity  was  the  only  one  considered  ;  that  is,  the 
words  making  up  the  verse  were  measured  according  to 
the  length  of  their  vowels.  The  prose  accent,  as  well  as  the 
logical  importance  of  the  words,  or  parts  of  words,  was  not 
taken  into  consideration. 

The  combination  of  a  raising  and  a  lowering  of  the  voice 
forms  the  verse-foot. 

The  poets,  too,  followed  the  rules  of  rhythm  partly  by 
causing  the  accentuation  of  the  verse-feet  to  vary  as  much 
as  possible  from  the  prose  pronunciation  of  the  words, 
partly  by  harmoniously  joining  the  parts  of  the  verse  so 
that  the  compass  of  the  individual  words  might  differ  as 
much   as   possible    from    that    of    the    single   verse-feet,    and 

418 53S 


^S  General  Introduction. 

partly  by  using  at  the  end  of  each  metrical  series  —  as 
well  of  the  divisions  of  the  verse  caused  by  the  caesura 
as  at  the  end  of  every  artificial  combination  of  verse-feet 
—  the  kind  of  verse-foot  peculiar  to  this  end. 

2.   Long  and  Short  Syllables.      Arsis  and  Thesis. 

Every  vowel  of  a  Greek  or  Latin  word  has  an  exact 
time  (xpoVos,  tempus),  and  is  either  long  or  short,  —  with 
the  exception  of  those  cases,  rare  in  prose,  but  more  common 
in  poetry,  where  the  same  vowel  can  be  at  the  same  time 
either  long  or  short. 

A  vowel  is  either  long  by  nature  or  it  is  regarded  as 
long  on  account  of  its  position  before  two  or  more  con- 
sonants. In  versification,  one  long  is  equivalent  to  two  short 
syllables. 

A  complete  verse-foot  has  at  least  one  raising  {Thesis)  and 
one  lowering  (Arsis)  of  tone,  produced  by  a  greater  or 
less  stress  of  the  voice.  The  Thesis  is  always  long,  except 
when  it  is  resolved  into  two  short  syllables.  The  Arsis  is 
sometimes  short,  sometimes  long. 

To  scan  is  to  read  the  verse  according  to  the  Thesis 
and  Arsis. 

3.     Verse-feet.     Basis.     Anacrusis. 

The  most  common  combinations  of  syllables,  or  verse- 
feet,   are  the   following  :  — 

w    w    Pyrrhic    /egi  t l^     i^ 


Trochee teg^^ i  i> 

Iambus    duces i .  I 

•y  I 

Spondee I'eg'i    ....    i  \ 


v^    >^    w 
v.^   v>  


KJ     KJ      ^^     K^ 


y^      \J     \y 


V^     w 


\y    ^    ^   

WW    


Versc-fcet. 

. . .   Tribrach legl  Ce 

. . .   Dactyl legi miis    

. . .   Anapaest lege  rent   

...   Amphibrachus|('"^/^"t'"L""-H  .. 
••         egone  i 

(Bacchius  "| 

Antibacchius 
Palimbacchius  J 

{Antibacchius  1 
PaUmbacchius  , 
Bacchius  J 

f  Cretic  )  -       -  ,_ 

.    <    .       ,  ■  \  .  .    consule 

\  Amphimacer      j 


39 


amic  OS 


legistis 


Molossus legeriint 


.    Proceleusmaticus  .  .    an'imula  .  . 

.    Txon pn'w Its consul} hits 

.    Poeon  secundus ....   11: ge ntibus 


Paeon  (eriius legitote . 


.    Pa:on  qiiartns ttineri 

.  Ionic  rt  w/«(';'/. .. .  retulissent  . 
.  Ionic  a  majoyi .  . .  .  confec'erat  .  . 
.   Choriambus cont  tiler  ant 

.    Antispast    legebaris  ... 

f  Ditrochee  "I  -  ...    -     ^  - 

-(  T^•  u  y collirnntur. 

I  Dichoreus  J  '^ 


.   Diiambus   ^<V"  "' '  "  ^ 


First  Epitrite relegerunt . 

Second  Epitrite. . .  .  eltgebant  . . 

Third  Epitrite    ....  selegerint  . 

Fourth  Epitrite. .. .  collegtstis  . 

Dispondee   sel'tgeru  n  t  . 


P  *  * 

LU 

0   0   0 

I  LJ 

0  0  0 
U  I 

*  p  * 


0  0  0 


0  0  0 
\  I  U 

0  0  0 

1  ^1 
0  0  0 

0   0   0   0 

0  0  0  0 

MM 

0    0    0    O 

^1  u 

0    0    0    0 

U  I  '^ 
0  0  0  0 

Lu  I 
0  0  0  0 

U  {  1 

rrtj- 

r0  0  0 
U  I 
0  0  0  0 
Ul  I  I' 

0  0  0  0 

1  ^  I  1^ 

rr 


tf  • 


w 


Dochmius amtcos  tenes  ... 


0  0  0  0 


0  0  0 


0  0  0  0 

I  I  I  u 

0  0  0  0 


iiTjr 


40  General  Introduction. 

The  combination  of  two  feet  is  called  a  Dipody.  Iambic, 
Trochaic,  and  Anapaestic  verse,  but  not  the  Dactylic,  is 
measured  by  Dipodies.  The  Iambic  verse,  containing  six 
feet,  is  therefore  called  a  Trimeter.  The  greatest  stress  of 
the  metrical  Ictus  is  laid  upon  the  first  part  of  the  Dipody, 
consequently  on  the  odd   feet. 

Basis  is  the  term  applied  by  later  writers  on  metre  to  the 
dissyllabic  prelude  at  the  beginning  of  Phalgecean,  Phere- 
cratean,  Asclepiadean,  and  other  verses,  which  in  Greek 
poetry  consists  of  a  Trochee,  Spondee,  Iambus,  or  Pyrrhic. 

Anacrusis  is  the  name  given  to  the  monosyllabic   prelude 

before    the   first    thesis    of    the    Alcaic    Hendecasyllabic   and 

Enneasyllabic,  and  other  verses.     This  syllable  is  either  long 

or  short. 

4.    Verse. 

A  Verse  is  a  metrical  series  consisting  of  like  or  different 
feet,  which,  however,  are  not  combined  arbitrarily  or  mechani- 
cally, but  according  to  the  law  of  Symmetry  and  Euphony, 
as  it  presents  itself  to  the  artistic  sense  of  the  poet. 

A  Verse  must  not  number  over  thirty  niorce  (a  mora  is 
the  unit  of  measure,  the  time  of  one  short  syllable,  a  j*  in 
music) ;  although  in  lyric  poetry  and  in  the  choruses  of  the 
Greek  drama  there  are  found  longer  combinations,  so-called 
Periods,  of  which  no  account  is  taken  in  the  following 
pages. 

The  metrical  correctness  of  a  verse  —  that  is,  the  correct 
quantity  of  the  syllables,  the  strict  exclusion  of  all  illegitimate 
feet  —  was  a  matter  of  course  in  the  old  poets  until  the 
degeneration  of  Latin  and  Greek  literature ;  but  metrical 
correctness  by  no  means  makes  a  verse  a  work  of  art,  and 
it  becomes  such  only  by  an  exact  keeping  of  the  laws  of 
rhythm,  especially  at  the  close  of  a  metrical  series.     More- 


Verse.  41 

over,  a  longer  verse  needs  at  least  one  definite  division 
(Caesura),  which  allows  the  voice  to  rest,  and  divides  the 
verse  symmetrically  and  harmoniously. 

Again,  it  is  a  law  of  euphony  that  the  same  letter  must 
not  recur  too  frequently  in  the  same  verse,  as  in  Ennius :  — 

O  Tite  tute  tibi  tanta  tyranne  tulisti. 

Just  as  much  to  be  avoided  are  words  of  the  same  number 
of  syllables,  or  those  which  are  too  long,  as  in  Ennius  and 
Namatianus  :  — 

sparsis  hastis  longis  campus  splendet  et  horret. 
Bellerophonteis  sollicitudiniljus. 

On  the  contrary,  there  must  be  a  proper  mingling  of 
longer  and  shorter  words. 

A  verse  of  which  the  last  foot  is  incomplete  is  called 
Catalectic.  If  this  incomplete  foot  contains  one  syllable,  it 
is  called  Catalecticus  in  syllabam;  if  two,  Catalecticus  in 
disyllabtim. 

A  verse  can  be  called  Hypercatalectic  if  it  has  one  or 
two  arses  after  the  last  complete  foot. 

A  verse  is  called  Simple  if  it  consists  of  like  feet ; 
Compound,  if  it  consists  of  unlike  feet. 

A  verse  in  which  Dactyls  and  Trochees  are  used  together 
is  called  Logaoedic. 

Verses  made  up  of  two  different  metrical  series  are  called 
Asynartete.  At  the  end  of  the  first  series  hiatus  and  syllaba 
anceps  are  generally  allowed. 

In  view  of  the  great  artistic  taste  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  and  the  highly  finished  state  of  their  languages, 
it  can  be  assumed  that  their  most  usual  verse-feet  were 
also   the    most   perfect.      As   such,    the   Dactylic   Hexameter 


42  General  Introduction. 

and  Pentameter,  the  Iambic  Trimeter,  the  Trochaic  Tetra- 
meter Catalectic,  the  Anapsestic  Dimeter  and  Tetrameter 
Catalectic,  the  Glyconic  and  Asclepiadean  measures,  and  the 
Alcaic  and  Sapphic  Strophes,  are  especially  remarkable. 

5.    Caesura. 

In  order  to  give  the  voice  a  rest,  verses  of  more  than  ten 
syllables  have  usually  one  or  two  divisions  {Ccesura,  rofi-i]);  but 
this  rest  or  pause  is  shorter  than  at  the  end  of  the  verse. 

Sometimes  there  is  besides  the  Primary  Caesura  a  Secondary 
Caesura,  as  e.g.  in  the  Dactylic  Hexameter  we  find  the  Trithe- 
miineres  (caesura  after  the  third  half- foot),  together  with  the 
Heph  the  mime  res  (caesura  after  the  seventh  half-foot). 

The  division  of  the  parts  of  the  verse  by  the  caesura  is 
not  accidental  or  mechanical,  but  depends  upon  the  law^f 
Symmetry  and  Euphony.  Hence  it  often  happens  that  the 
parts  of  the  verse  made  by  the  caesura  (also  called  "Metrical 
Series")  elsewhere  appear  as  independent  verses.  This  is 
also  further  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  caesura  usually 
occurs  about  in  the   middle  of  the  verse. 

The  original  metre  is  frequently  cut  in  two  by  the  caesura. 
So  e.g.  the  Penthemimeral  and  Hephthemimeral  caesuras  in 
the  Dactylic  Hexameter  fall  upon  an  Anapaest ;  in  the  Iambic 
Trimeter,  upon  a  Trochee.  The  greatest  stress  of  the  met- 
rical ictus  rests  on  the  first  half  of  the  verse  as  far  as  the 

caesura. 

6.    Final  Syllables. 

The  Final  Syllable  of  the  verse  is  common;  that  is,  it 
can  be  either  long  or  short.      Compare  10. 

For  this  syllable  the  law  of  Hiatus  is  not  binding.  Elision 
and  the  Apostrophe  are  not  allowed  at  the  end  of  the  verse, 
except  when  several  verses  are  united  by  Synapheia.     In  this 


System,   Strophe,  and  Epode.  43 

case  neither  Syllaba  Anceps  nor  Hiatus  is  admitted  ;  but 
Elision,  and  sometimes  the  division  of  a  word  at  the  end 
of  the  verse,  occur.     Compare  10. 

For  the  so-called  Hexainetri  hypermetri,  compare  36. 

7.    System.     Strophe.     Epode. 

A  System  is  the  combination  of  two  or  more  verses  so 
as  to  form  an  artistic  rhythmical  unity.  Such  Systems  can 
be  repeated  as  often  as  desired. 

It  is  not  necessary,  and  indeed  quite  seldom  happens, 
that  the  parts  of  a  System  of  verses  should  be  united  to 
each  other  by  Synapheia. 

If  such  a  System  is  repeated  one  or  more  times,  it  is 
called  a  Strophe. 

In  Doric  and  dramatic  lyrical  poetry  the  even  (second, 
fourth,  etc.)  Strophes  are  called  Antistrophes. 

Epode  {epodus,  eVwSo's,  fem.  gen.)  is  the  name  applied 
to  the  Verse-System  which,  in  Doric  lyric  poetry  and  in 
the  choruses  of  tragedy,  follows  the  Antistrophe  and 
closes  this  and  the   Strophe. 

Epode  {epodus,  cttwSos,  masc.  gen.)  is  also  the  name 
applied  to  a  shorter  or  even  a  longer  asynartete  (Hor. 
Epod.  II,  13)  verse,  which  is  combined  with  the  preced- 
ing into  a  System.  Again,  the  combination  of  two  such 
verses,  with  the  exception  of  the  Elegiac  Distich,  is  called 
an  Epode  (Horace). 

The  repetition  of  Dactylic  Distiches  or  Epodes  is  not 
considered  as  a  Strophic  structure. 

8.   Punctuation  in  Verse. 

Since  the  Verse,  the  parts  of  the  Verse  produced  by  the 
caesura,  and   the  Verse-Systems,    are    merely  a   result  of  the 


44  General  Introduction. 

euphony  and  rhythm  of  language,  they  have  originally 
nothing  to  do  with  the  logical  structure  of  the  sentence, 
as  it  is  represented  to  the  eye  by  punctuation.  Hence  it 
may  happen  in  verses  united  by  Synapheia,  that  one  word 
belongs  to  two  different  verses.  Therefore  it  is  by  no 
means  necessary  that  the  verse,  the  caesura,  or  even  the 
strophe  or  antistrophe  and  epode,  should  close  at  a  point 
of  punctuation,  as  e.g.  Pindar  and  Horace  show.  Further, 
it  introduces  no  difficulty  that  a  word  should  stand  at  the 
end  of  a  verse,  or  in  the  caesura,  which  is  to  be  closely 
connected  with  what  follows.  Thus  we  often  find,  e.g.  in 
Horace  at  the  end  of  lyric  verses  (except  at  the  end  of 
the  strophe)  and  of  the  satiric  Hexameter  et,  ant,  vet,  etc., 
or  a  monosyllabic  preposition  (as  in  the  strophes  of  the 
Greeks) . 

Even  a  full  stop  before  the  last  syllable  is  not  avoided,  as 
in  Catullus  :  — 

quid?  non  est   homo  bellus?  inquies?    est. 

and  in  Horace  :  — 

scitari  libet   ex  ipso,   quodcumque  refers,    die, 
ad  cenam  veniat. 

Still,  the  desire  to  make  the  metrical  endings,  marked 
out  by  the  caesura  and  close  of  the  verse,  coincide  with  the 
divisions  of  the  sentence,  as  well  as  to  avoid  harsh  discords, 
is  so  deeply  implanted  in  our  poetic  instinct,  that,  at  least 
in  verses  which  are  not  united  in  system  or  strophe,  the 
poets  early  (as  Homer  shows)  directed  their  attention  to 
this  point.  Therefore  it  seldom  happens  outside  of  the 
strophe,  especially  among  the  Greeks,  that  the  last  syllable 
or  the  last  foot  of  a  verse  belongs  to  the  following  sentence. 
In  the  same  way  a  full  stop  after  the  first  syllable  or  the 
first  foot  of  a  verse  is  avoided. 


Punctuation  in   Verse.  45 

Therefore  such  a  case  as  II.  I.  51,  52:  — 

avTap    cTreir     avTolai   ySeAos    €^£7revK€s    ec^tets 
ySaAA  *    at£6    ok    irvpal    vckvwv    kuiovto    Oafxexat ; 

is  not  to  be  commended,  although  here  the  harshness  is 
diminished  by  the  logical  importance  of  the  first  word  and 
by  the  elision. 

Vergil  sometimes  for  the  sake  of  effect  ends  a  rather 
long  speech  with  an  initial  dactyl.     ^'En.  IV.  570:  — 

femina.'     sic  fatus  nocti  se  inmiscuit  atrae. 

The  placing  of  a  full  stop  at  the  distance  of  a  half-foot 
before  or  after  the  principal  csesura  is  also  avoided,  and 
hence  such  a  verse  as  the  following  is  faulty  (^n.  I.  17):  — 

hie   currus  /le//;  hoc  |  regnum  dea  gentibus   esse. 

Still  more  this  (JEn.  VII.  635)  :  — 

pulverulentus  eques  |  furit.    omnes  arma  requirunt. 

So  too  these  verses  of  ^schylus  and  Sophocles  (Seven 
against  Thebes,  1030;  El.  1038)  :  — 

dAA'   ov  TToAi?    crruyei,    uv  \  rt/xryo-ets    Td<f)(t) ; 
oTav   yap    €V    <j)povrjs,   To6    yjyrjo-u   av    vwv. 

In  Homer  (Od.  V.  234),  on  the  other  hand,  we  must 
write  :  — 

SwKcv   ol   TTcAcKW,   fxijav,    apfJievov    iv   TraXdfxycTiv ; 

not :  —  '\  ' 

TTcAcKuv  /xeyav. 

Still,  the  tragedians,  especially  after  Sophocles,  allow  them- 
selves much  freedom  -with  respect  to  the  disagreement  of 
metre  and  punctuation,  in  order  to  increase  the  effect  of 
passages  in  the  dialogue  which  are  expressive  of  lofty 
passion.     Much    more    freedom   does    Horace  allow  himself 


4^  General  Ijitrodiictio7i. 

in  his  satiric  Hexameter.  Moreover,  many  other  poets 
(among  the  Romans)  are  accustomed  to  place  monosyllabic 
Conjunctions  or  Prepositions  in  the  caesura  of  the  Hex- 
ameter, especially  when  elision  occurs,  as  Vergil :  — 

si  genus  humawz^;/;  et  mortalia  temnitis  arma. 

The  Greeks  are  much  stricter  in  this  respect,  and  a  verse 
like  the  following   (II.  I.  53)   occurs  but  seldom:  — 

ii'vrjfA.ap    [xev    dva   aTparbv   co^^ero   KrjXa    Oeolo. 

In  the  tragedians  two  verses  hke  the  following  from 
Sophocles  are  rare  :  — 

KaKov   8k    Kav   iv  \  rj/Jiepci.  yvot7/s    fita. 

Therefore  words  like  /aeV,  Se,  ydp,  ovv,  enim,  autem,  vero, 
which  do  not  stand  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence,  aye 
not  usually  found  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse. 

Since  languages,  with  increasing  age,  always  pay  more 
regard  to  logic,  in  the  poets  since  the  Christian  era  it  is 
the  rule  that  the  end  of  a  Strophe  like  the  Elegiac  Distich 
shall  coincide  with  a  full  stop ;  and  these  poets  also,  even 
the  Romans,  —  at  least  at  the  end  of  the  verse,  —  avoid 
harsh  discords  between  the  end  of  a  metrical  series  and 
the  punctuation  or  logical  connection. 

9.    Rhyme.     Alliteration. 

In  order  to  emphasize  words  connected  or  related  to  each 
other  by  a  similar  sound,  and  because  this  sounded  well  to 
them,  the  Greeks  and  Romans  often  placed  in  the  csesura 
and  at  the  end  of  the  verse  words  having  a  similar  ending 
(rhyme,  hoinoeoteleutoii),  especially  a  noun  and  adjective,  or 
appositive,  so   that  usually  the  last  one,  but  sometimes  the 


Rhyme.     Alliteration.  47 

last  two,  syllables  of  each  word  had  the  same  sound. 
Thus  Homer :  — 

co-TTcre  vvv   ixot    Movcrat,   'OXvfXTnxi   Sw/tar    €;j(ovorai. 

Ovid  :  — 

quot  caelum  Stellas,  tot  habet  tua   Roma  puellas. 

Especially  frequent  is  this  assonance  in  the  caesura  and 
at  the  end  of  the  verse  of  the  dactylic  Pentameter  and  the 
asclepiadeus  minor,  e.g. :  — 

et  teneat  cul/z  jugera  multa  so/j 
terrarum  diOWAnos  evehit  ad  defj. 

The  laws  of  Rhyme  in  later  poetry  have  been  developed 
from  this  usage. 

The  same  purpose  is  served  by  Alliteration ;  i.e.  a  similar 
beginning,  consisting  of  one  or  even  two  letters,  of  two  or 
more  words  which  follow  each  other. 

Among  the  Romans  Alliteration  appears  frequently  from 
the  earUest  time  until  Lucretius.  Later,  under  the  influence 
of  the  Greeks,  who,  with  the  exception  of  the  comedians, 
were  not  fond  of  it,  few  instances  occur,  and  these  for  the 
most  part  in  single  formulas,  as  pater  patriae,  more  viodocpie, 
etc.,  or  in  very  artificial  verses;  in  Vergil  occasionally,  in 
imitation  of  Ennius.^ 

^  The  relative  merits  and  present  relation  of  Greek  and  Roman 
versification  are   discussed  in   the  Introduction. 


SECOND    SECTION. 


-ooJ^Oo- 


ON    PECULIARITIES    OF   THE   FOOT. 
10.   Synapheia. 

The  last  syllable  of  every  verse  can  be,  as  has  been 
already  said,  either  long  or  short.  Yet  the  old  poets  were 
fond  of  ending  verses,  especially  those  closing  with  a  thesis 
or  a  trochee,  with  a  long  syllable  or  one  ending  with 
a  consonant. 

When  several  verses  are  joined  together  into  one  system 
by  Synapheia,  —  that  is,  if  tlie  metre  runs  without  break 
through  the  pauses  of  the  verses  to  the  end,  —  elision  and 
the  division  of  a  word  can  occur  at  the  end  of  every  verse 
except  the  last.  Hiatus  and  Syllaba  Anceps,  however,  are 
not  allowed.  Especially  frequent  is  Synapheia  in  lonici  a 
minori,  Glyconics,  and  Anapaests.  Horace  has  Synapheia, 
but  without  ehsion  and  division  of  a  word,  in  Od.  HI.  12; 
sometimes  also  in  his  other  lyrical  measures  the  same  thing 
is  found. 

11.   Resolution  of  Thesis  and  Arsis. 

The  Thesis  of  the  dactylic  verse,  and  of  the  logaoedic 
verse  also  in  Ionic,  ^-Eolic,  and  Roman  poetry,  cannot  be 
resolved.  The  Arsis  in  verses  which  have  more  than  three 
feet  can  be  replaced  at  pleasure  by  a  long  syllable. 

The    Arsis    of    the    anapaest    can    always    be    replaced    by 
a  long   syllable. 
48 


Resolution  of  Thesis  and  Arsis.  49 

In  anapaestic,  iambic,  and  trochaic  metres  the  Thesis, 
except  the  last,  can  always  be  replaced  by  a  pyrrhic. 

From  this  must  be  excepted  iambic  and  trochaic  verses 
ending  with  a  spondee,  as  well  as  logaoedic  metres ;  but 
this,  too,  apart  from  the  Doric  lyric  poetry  and  the  lyric 
passages  of  the  drama.  Further,  the  shorter  an  iambic 
and  trochaic  measure  is,  the  less  often  does  Resolution 
occur. 

Wherever  in  iambic  metre  the  spondee  is  allowed,  it 
is  occasionally  replaced  by  an  anapaest.  This  license  is, 
however,  found  but  seldom  in  the  best  poets,  as  the 
Greek  tragedians  and  Horace.  The  Greeks  allow  the 
dactyl  for  the  spondee  in  trochaic  verse  only  in  proper 
names. 

Since  the  end  of  the  verse,  which  in  the  Hexameter 
consists  of  two  feet,  in  the  longer  iambic  and  trochaic 
measures,  as  well  as  in  the  Paroemiac,  of  one  and  a  half 
feet,  must  be  preserved  in  its  original  purity,  we  seldom 
find  a  spondee  in  the  next  to  the  last  foot  of  the  Hexa- 
meter or  Paroemiac,  or  a  Resolution  of  the  next  to  the 
last  Thesis  in  iambic  or  catalectic  trochaic  verse. 


THIRD    SECTION. 


o-oj43):J<>o 

DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    MOST    IMPORTANT   METRES, 
STROPHES,    AND    SYSTEMS. 

12.    Dactylic  Metres. 

(i)    The  Dactylic  Hexameter  [Homer  and  Hesiod]^ :  — 

—  WW  _  OO  _    II    wO  _  CXJ  _   WW  —   *->' 

I  r  Lj'  I  r  u'  I  r  I  u'  I  r  u'  i  r  u*  i  r  p  ^^  i 

The  Hexameter  was,  in  the  Golden  Age  of  antiquity, 
the  only  metre  used  for  Epic  poetry  {versus  heroia/s),  and 
for  the  responses  of  the  oracles  {versus  Pythius).  It  was 
also  the  usual  metre  for  Didactic  and  Bucolic  poetry,  and 
for  Satire  from  Horace  on ;  but  it  was  seldom  used  in 
Epigrams  other  than  those  of  folk-poetry.  The  tragedians 
employ  it  in  some  places,  in  especially  solemn  passages, 
and  it  occurs  often  in  the  strophes  of  Archilochus  and 
Horace. 

By  the  variety  of  its  rhythms  and  coesuras  it  is  equally 
adapted  to  the  most  different  kinds  of  poetry.  The  best 
Hexameters  are  those  which  are  made  up  of  three  dactyls, 
and  the  spondees  so  arranged  that  the  dactyls  fall  in  the 
first,  second,  and  fifth  feet,  as  in  Vergil :  — 

arma  virumque  cano,  Troiaeque  primus  ab  oris. 

1  The  name  added  to  each  metre  in  brackets  indicates  the  poet  by 
whom  it  was  first  used  or  through  whom  it  first  became  known. 

50 


Dactylic  Metres.  5  i 

For  too  many  dactyls  make  the  rhythm  too  variable 
and  restless ;  too  many  spondees  make  it  stiff  and  clumsy. 
Hexameters  made  up  of  spondees  only  do  not  occur  in 
the  poets  considered  in  this  book,  Homer  not  excepted 
(the  readings  in  Od.  XXI.   15;   XXH.   175   are  corrupt). 

As  would  be  expected  from  the  flexibility  of  the  lan- 
guage, among  the  Greeks  the  dactyl  preponderates,  so  that 
its  frequency  of  occurrence  relatively  to  the  spondee  is  as 
four  to  two. 

Homer,  and  oftener  Vergil,  employ  the  different  feet  for 
verse-painting,  according  as  the  meaning  demands  more 
rapidity  or  slowness  of  rhythm.  Thus  in  the  well-known 
lines  (Od.  XI.  598;  JEn.  VIII.  596;   Georg.   IV.   174)  :  — 

avrts    eTTttru    Treooi'Oe    KvXivotTo    Aaas    di/atSi^s. 
quadrupedante  putrem  sonitu  quatit  ungula  campum. 
illi   inter  sese   magna  vi   bracchia   tollunt. 

Compare  also  the  description  of  the  storm  (^-En.  I.  81- 
91  ;    102-123). 

In  the  fifth  foot,  especially  in  Latin,  we  do  not  often 
find  the  spondee  {vcrsi/s  spondiazon),  particularly  in  the 
Distich.  In  the  Satires  and  Epistles  of  Horace  it  occurs 
only  once   (Ep.  II.  3,  467). 

If  a  spondee  occurs  in  the  fifth  foot,  a  dactyl  usually 
stands  in  the  fourth. 

The  best  and  usual  caesura  is  the  Penthemimeral,  after 
the  third  Thesis  :  — 

fj.rjvLv    aeiSe,    6m,  \  JlrjXrjLaSeo)    'A^iA^os. 
arma  virumque  cano  |  Troiaeque  primus  ah  oris. 

Not  less  frefiuent  in  Homer  and  most  of  the  Greek 
poetSj    much   more    frequent    in    Nonnus,    is    the    to/mt/    Kara 


52  Metres,   Strophes,  and  Systems. 

TpiTov   Tpoxoiiov    {i.e.    after   the    second  syllable   of  the  third 
dactyl)  :  — 

avopa  fxoi   evvCTre,    MoiJcra,   |  TroAurpoTrov,    os   fxaXa   iroXXd. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  occurs  but  seldom  among  the 
Romans.  With  them  the  caesura  which  occurs  most  fre- 
quently after  the  Penthemimeral  is  the  Hephthemimeral, 
which   is  rare  in  Greek  (/En.  I.  251)  :  — 

navibus  infandum !    amissis  |  unius  ob  iram. 

In  Latin  the  Penthemimeral  Caesura  is  by  far  the  most 
frequent,  especially  so  in  the  Distich,  and  in  general  in  the 
most  polished  poetry. 

Every  Hexameter  verse  which  has  not  one  of  these 
caesuras  is  faulty,  and  such  do  not  occur  in  the  poets  con- 
sidered in  this  book  (the  very  few  examples  to  the  contrary 
are  wholly  corrupt  readings).  ■• 

In  addition  to  the  Penthemimeral  Caesura  and  the  to/x,-^ 
Kara  rpiTov  rpo)(a1ov,  the  so-called  BiicoUc  Caesura  {i.e.  the 
caesura  especially  used  in  Bucolic  poetry)  after  the  fourth 
dactyl  occurs,  but  only  in  Greek  (II.  XXIII.  549;  Od. 
I.    I):- 

£(7Tt   TOt   ev   KXicrir]   |  )(^pvcr6<;   ttoXv';,  |  Ictti   oe   ^aXKOs. 
avSpa  /xoL   evveire,    Wovaa,  |  TroXvTpoTrov,  |   os   /xdXa  TroXXd. 

In  cases  where  such  verses  occur  in  Latin,  as  Bucol. 
10,   II,  it  is  to  be  assumed  that  there  is  no  caesura  at  all. 

As  the  simple  Hephthemimeral  Caesura  divides  the  verse 
into  two  unequal  parts,  there  is  frequently  found  both  in 
Greek  and  Latin,  as  a  sort  of  support,  the  Trithemimeral 
Caesura  (after  the  second  Thesis).     So  II.  I.   145  : —  • 

t]    Attts  I  rj  'lSo/A€vews  |  y    Sios     OSuo-crew. 


Dactylic  Metres.  53 

When  the  end  of  a  word  falls  both  in  the  second  syllable 
of  the  third  foot  and  in  the  fourth  Thesis,  in  the  Greek 
Hexameter  the  to/at/  Kara.  rpiTov  Tpo-^alov  is  employed,  and 
in  Latin  the  Hepthemimeral  Caesura,  without  regard  to  the 
punctuation   (Od.  IV.  126  ;  ALn.  IV.  582)  :  — 

'AXKavSprj   TloXvjSoio  |  Sa/xap,    05   ci^at'   ivl    0?//3>j9. 

litora  deseruere.     latet  |  sub  classibus  aequor. 

The  Hephthemimeral  Caesura  in  Latin  is  most  commonly 
found  when  at  the  same  time  the  Trithemimeral  occurs, 
and  there  is  the  end  of  a  word  in  the  third  trochee  :  — 

infandum  |  rej^uia  jubes  |  renovare  dolorem. 

In  this  place,  as  at  the  end  of  the  verse,  too  long  words 
were  avoided. 

Finally,  wherever  in  Latin  Hexameter  a  word  ends  with 
the  third  Thesis,  and  after  the  fourth  a  decided  stop  occurs, 
the  Hephthemimeral  may  be  regarded  as  the  proper  caesura:  — 

oscula  libavit  natae  ;   |   dehinc  talia  fatur. 

When  a  word  ends  in  the  third  trochee,  a  word  ending 
also  in  the  second  or  fourth  trochee  is  not  good,  although 
in  one  case  Horace  has  allowed  himself  both  in  one  line  :  — 

dignum  niente  domoque  |  \<igcntis  honesta  Neronis. 

In  a  case  like  this  when  the  Trithemimeral  Caesura  does 
not  occur,  the  best  Latin  poets  are  accustomed  to  unite 
the   second   and   third   feet   in   one   word  :  — 

Mnesthea  Scrgestunujue  vocat  |  fortemque   Serestum. 

The  Greeks  in  general  very  seldom  place  a  trochaic 
word  in  the  fourth  foot,  doubtless  because  they  employ 
a  trochee  in   the   third  foot  so  frequently. 


54  Metres,   Strophes,  and  Systems. 

(3)  The  Pentameter  (Callinus  and  Archilochus)  is  made 
up  by  doubling  the  first  half  of  the  Hexameter,  which 
has  the  Penthemimeral  Caesura,  though  the  spondee  is 
allowed  only  in   the   first  half:  — 


\  o       1    \    *       0     0    \  0       0     0   \  0       \ 

11      ill      '^11      L^    1 1      i 

The  most  pleasing  effect  is  produced  when  a  spondee 
occurs    only  in  the   second  foot  :  — 

et    tenert/   culi\   jugera    multa    soli. 

The  caesura  occurs  always  after   the   third  Thesis. 

The     Distich     is    made    up    by    the    combination    of    the 

Pentameter    (which    almost    never    occurs    alone)    and    the 

Hexameter. 

/   /   /    I   /  —    /  ( — )  / 

(3)  The  Tetrameter   (Archilochus):  — 

I  I  1 

r0    0     0      0    0        0     \     0    0    0        0    0 

This  metre  is  employed  by  Horace  and  Archilochus  in 
asynartete  verse  with  a  following  trochaic  Tripody,  The 
last  syllable  is  always  short  in  Horace,  but  not  in  Archilo- 
chus. This  verse  also  occurs  independently  in  Greek  and 
Roman  lyrical  poetry,  in  which  case  the  dactyl  greatly  pre- 
ponderates.    The  caesura  is  the   Penthemimeral. 

(4)  Tetrameter  Catalectic  ///  dissyllalnim  (Archilochus)  :  — 


_    ^.J\^    _    v_/vy    -—     \^     \J    —     \J 


r 


AnapcEstic  JlTetrcs.  55 

In  Horace  this  is  a  part  of  the  epodic  and  lyrical 
strophes.  Only  once  (I.  28,  2)  is  a  spondee  found  in  the 
third  foot,   and   then   in  a  proper  name. 

(5)    Trimeter  Catalectic  ///  syllabani   (Archilochus)  :  — 


/  /  / 


r  u  \    LI  r 

In  Horace  combined  with  the  heroic  Hexameter  in  the 
Odes.  Elsewhere  in  the  Epodes  it  is  combined  with  the 
Iambic   Dimeter  into   asynartete  verse. 

(6)  Dimeter  Catalectic  in  dissyllabutn,  versus  adonius 
(Sappho)  :  — 

\     LI  \     ' 

This  forms  the  close  of  the  Sapphic  Strophe. 

13.    Anapeestic  Metres. 

These  do  not  occur  in  the  Latin  authors  considered  here, 
but  frequently  in  the  Greek  dramatists. 

(7)  Anapaestic  Dimeter:  — 

J      0      J      0      J      0      J      0  i      0      i      0      i      0 

LJ  lJ  lJ  U  I  Lj'  Lj  LI  r 

In  place  of  an  anapaest  the  spondee,  dactyl,  and 
proceleusmatic  are  allowed. 

The  poets  usually  avoid  the  proceleusmatic,  as  well  for 
one    foot    as    for    the    Thesis    and    Arsis    of   two   successive 


56  Metres,   Strophes,  and  Systems. 

feet,  although  cases  are   found  where    three   proceleusmatics 

follow  each  other  :  — 

/  /  ^  / 

\j  \j  \j  \j     \j  \j  \j  \j     \j  \j  \j  \j     w\^_ 


I      I 


;  u  r 


The  following  form  is  usual :  — 


\J     \J      . _      \J     ^u 


In  solemn  and  mournful  poetry,  as  in  the  marching  hymns 
of  the  Spartans,  the  spondee  was  employed  by  preference. 
The  caesura  after  the  first  Dipody  is  not  always  observed. 

(8)    Anapaestic  Monometer  :  — 

/        c  /      \ 


u  r 

This  measure  is  often  inserted  in  Anapaestic  Systems. 

Since  the  Anapasstic  verse  is  employed  in  systems  with 
Synapheia,  Hiatus  and  Syllaba  Anceps  are  only  allowed  at 
the  end  where  there  is  a  change  of  person,  and  more 
rarely  at  a  stop.  Elision  and  Resolution  of  the  last  Thesis 
are  allowed.  Notwithstanding  the  Synapheia,  however,  Dim- 
eters and  Monometers  generally  end  with  a  complete  word. 

(9)  The  close  of  the  Anapaestic  System  is  usually  formed 
by  an  Anapaestic  Dimeter  Catalectic  inversus  paroemiacus)  :  — 

0       0       0  0       0         0  0  0  0 

'^1       LJ     I       11       \f 

The  rule  is  that  this  measure  should  have  the  form  of 
the  second  half  of  the  Hexameter  after  the  Penthemimeral 
Caesura.  Hence  it  is  rare  that  the  Theses  (especially  the 
last)  are  resolved,  or  a  spondee  placed  in  the  next  to  the 
last  foot. 


Iambic  Metres.  57 


14.    Iambic    Metres. 


(10)    Iambic  Trimeter  versus  senarius   (Archilochus)  :  — 


\J-^\^.L—     \J1—     ^J-^\U.L—     \^ 


0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  P 

\^  \  \>  \  \^  \  \>  \  \^  \  ^^  \ 

without   Resolution   or  spondees.      In  Horace  used  with  the 
dactyUc  Hexameter. 

(v-yw)  (ww)  (ww) 

P'or  Phsedrus'  Iambics,  see  below. 

This  is  the  most  frequently  used  verse  in  the  dialogue  of 
Tragedy  and  Comedy  and  in  the  Epodes  of  Horace,  and 
occasionally  employed  in  other  poetry,  especially  satirical 
and  sarcastic.  It  is  the  favorite  and  most  beautiful  metre 
after  the  Dactylic  Hexameter. 

Spondees  are  particularly  numerous  in  the  Trimeter  of 
Tragedy,  especially  in  ^schylus.  In  general,  here  and  in 
what  follows,  we  are  concerned  only  with  the  Iambic  and 
Trochaic  verses  of  the  dialogue,  not  with  those  of  the  lyrical 
passages,  which  have  their  own  peculiar  licenses  in  Resolu- 
tion, Caesura,  etc.  Resolution  of  the  Thesis  occurs  rarely  in 
Archilochus,  and  is  confined  to  the  first  syllable  of  words. 

In  ^schylus  and  the  older  plays  of  Sophocles,  Resolu- 
tion of  the  Thesis  in  the  second,  third,  fourth,  or  fifth 
foot  occurred  more  rarely,  and  then  generally  in  the  begin- 
ning of  words  of  three  or  more  syllables ;  less  frequently 
in  the  case  of  dissyllabic  words  except  prepositions,  or 
monosyllables  which  belong  closely  to  the  following  word 
beginning  with  a  short  syllable,  e.g.  the  article.  Euripides, 
in  whose  poetry  Resolution  is  oftenest  found,  allows  himself 
to  unite  a  short  monosyllable  with  a  following  short  syllable 
when  both  words  do  not  belong  together. 


$8  Metres,  Strophes,  and  Systems. 

In  words  of  four  or  more  syllables  in  the  second  and 
fifth  feet  inclusive,  Resolution  through  the  two  last  sylla- 
bles occurs,  but  in  Euripides  only  through  the  middle 
syllables.  In  the  first  foot  it  is  naturally  the  second  and 
third  syllables  of  a  word  of  three  or  more  syllables  which 
are  employed  in  a  Resolution  of  the  Thesis.  Yet  Sophocles 
and  chiefly  Euripides  (even  ^schylus  when  the  first  foot 
is  a  dactyl)  allow  the  verse  to  begin  with  a  monosyllable. 
A  Resolution  is  not  allowed  when  its  first  syllable  forms 
the  close  of  a  polysyllabic  word. 

Resolution  occurs  most  frequently  in  the  third  Thesis 
(after  the  caesura)  and  in  the  first,  most  rarely  in  the  fifth. 
A  dactyl  instead  of  a  spondee  occurs  only  in  the  first 
and  third  feet. 

^schylus  has  seldom  two  cases  of  Resolution  in  one 
verse  ;   Euripides  has  not  seldom  even  three. 

Horace  never  divides  a  Resolution  into  two  words,  and 
out  of  the  first  foot,  he  uses  it  only  twice  in  a  dissyllable 
(Ep.  2,  23;  5,  87).  A  word  consisting  of  three  short 
syllables  in  Latin  is  used  in  the  place  of  a  trochee,  never 
in  place  of  an  iambus,  as  is  customary  in  Greek.  Therefore 
in  Latin  verse  it  is  possible  to  scan  genera.,  never  genera. 

In  the  same  way  the  two  last  short  syllables  in  words 
of  more  than  three  syllables,  e.g.  materJ^,  are  not  used 
in  a  Resolution.  Horace  does  not  even  use  in  this  way 
the  last  syllables  of  a  dactylic  word  like  xbbord.  He  never 
resolves  the  fifth  Thesis ;  the  tribrach  occurs  most  fre- 
quently in  the  second  foot,  and  he  rarely  has  two  Resolu- 
tions in  one  verse,  almost  never  three   (cf.  Ep.   17,   12). 

The  anapaest  can  stand  instead  of  the  spondee  in  the 
first  foot  in  tragedy,  and  for  this  a  word  of  three  or  more 
syllables     is    generally    used.       Elsewhere    the     anapaest    is 


Iambic  Metres.  59 

allowed  only  in  proper  names,  but  (in  such  names)  in 
all  feet  except  the  last. 

Horace  has  an  anapsest  twice  in  the  first  foot,  three 
times  in  the  fifth  (Ep.  2,  35;  65;  3,  35;  5,  79;  11,  23), 
always  in  a  word  of  at  least  three  syllables. 

The  Arsis  of  an  anapsest  can  never  be  formed  by  the 
two  last  syllables  of  a  word  of  more  than  two  syllables,  or 
by  the  final  of  a  polysyllable  and  the  first  syllable  of  the 
following  word.     The  proceleusmatic  is  not  allowed. 

As  in  the  Dactylic  Hexameter,  the  most  usual  caesura 
is  the  Penthemimeral  after  the   third  Arsis  :  — 

\-/    \J   \J     I     \J   \J   v,^   

ibis  Liburnis  |  inter  alta  navium ; 
Next  the  Hephthemimeral  after  the  fourth  Arsis  :  — 

\J    \J    \J    ^u      I    \J    \J    

nam  qualis  aut  Molossus  |  aut  fulvus  Laco. 

The  Penthemimeral  Caesura  preponderates  in  Euripides 
more  than  in  ^schylus  and  Sophocles,  and  most  of  all  in 
Horace. 

Since  the  Hephthemimeral  Caesura  divides  the  verse  too 
unequally,  it  is  especially  used  when  the  second  foot  ends 
with  the   end  of  a  word  :  — 

nam  quahV  aut  Molossus  aut  fulvus  Laco  ; 

or  when  the  second  and  third  trochees  of  the  verse  are 
formed  by  one  word  :  — 

quae  sidera  excantata  voce  Thessala. 

Finally,  when  the  end  of  a  word  comes  after  the  second 
trochee,  and  a  stop  after  the  third,  the  Hephthemimeral 
Caesura  is  to   be  assumed  :  — 

quid  dixit  aut  quid  tacuit?  |  o  rebus  meis. 


6o  Metres,   StropJies,  and  Systems. 

The  rules  of  the  Hephthemimeral  Caesura  in  the  dactyUc 
Hexameter  are  quite  similar   (cf.  12). 

A  Trimeter  without  either  the  Penthemimeral  or  Hephthe- 
mimeral Caesura  is  faulty.  Such  verses  do  occur  in  the 
tragedies,  but  not  in  Horace.  In  such  cases  a  word  usually 
ends  with  the  third  foot. 

Finally,  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  when  the  fifth  foot  is 
a  spondee,  the  tragedians  are  not  accustomed  to  use  the 
final  of  a  polysyllabic  word  as  its  Arsis,  except  when  an 
enclitic  follows,  or  a  monosyllable  closely  connected  with 
the  preceding  word,  as  e.g. :  — 

aTreuSw/Aev,    iyKovwixev'   rjyov  fxoi,   yepov. 
olov  re  fJiOL   racrS'   iart.      6vy]T0L<i   yap   yepa. 

Otherwise  the  last  cretic  would  be  too  forcibly  separated 
from  the  rest  of  the  verse.  Horace  has  observed  this  rule 
only  in  Ep.   1 7. 

Iambics  of  Ph^drus. 

Phgedrus  allows  the  spondee  or  the  anapaest  in  every 
foot  except   the  last. 

In  the  fifth  foot  the  spondee  or  anapaest  predominate ; 
the  iambus  is  admitted  principally  when  a  four-syllabled 
word  stands  at  the  end  of  the  line  :  — 

ranae  vagantes  liberis  pahuiibus. 

In  no  case   does  a  verse  close  with  two  iambic  words. 

The  tribrach  occurs  only  in  the  second,  third,  and  fourth 
feet ;  the  dactyl  generally  in  the  first,  third,  and  fourth. 
The  Resolution  of  the  Thesis  follows  in  other  respects  the 
same  rules  as  in  Horace,  except  that  pyrrhic  words  are 
more   frequently  employed,  very  rarely  monosyllables,  which 


Iambic  Metres.  6 1 

are    usually    closely    connected    with    the    following     short 

syllable  :  — 

calumniator  ab  ove  cum  peteret  canis. 

The  verse  in  app.  lo,  lo,  is  an  isolated  case  and  probably 
to  be  emended  :  — 

non  ut  labores  facio,  sed  ut  istum  domes. 

If  the  fifth  Thesis  is  resolved,  a  four- syllabled  word  at 
least  must  stand  at  the  end  of  the  verse.  The  verses  V.  7, 
22  ;   app.  9,  6,  hardly  constitute  an  exception. 

The  anapaest  stands  everywhere  in  place  of  the  spondee ; 
the  two  never  follow  each  other  immediately.  Except  in 
the  first  foot  and  (very  seldom)  in  the  fifth  (III.  10,  4; 
14,  11;  app.  19,  3;  30,  10),  Ph?edrus  follows  exactly  the 
same  rules  as  Horace  for  the  anapisst. 

In  the  first  foot  the  Arsis  is  almost  always  formed  by  a 
dissyllable  or  the  beginning  of  a  polysyllable.  The  proce- 
leusmatic  occurs  only  in  the  first  foot ;  in  such  wise  that  the 
Arsis  always  forms  a  word  for  itself,  and  the  Thesis  does 
the  same,  or  at  least  forms  the  pyrrhic  beginning  of  a 
word,  e.g. :  — 

i/a  capttt  ad  nostrum   furor   illorum   pertinet. 
itaque  hodie  nee   lucernam  de   flamma  deum. 

The  caesura  is  exclusively  the  Penthemimeral  or  (more 
rarely)  the  Hephthemimeral. 

(11)    Catalectic  Trimeter   (Archilochus)  :  — 

KJ      /-      \J      —      \D       \      —     \J      ^      \J      ^      \J 

»      0        0      0        0      \     0        0      0        0      0        0 

This  is  used  by  Horace  in  the  Odes.  Resolution  of  the 
Thesis   and   the   anapaest  are   not   allowed ;    for  the  reading 


62  Metres,   StropJics,  and  Systems. 

in  II.   i8,   34,   is   certainly  corrupt.      Tlie    caesura   is   always 
the   Penthemimeral, 

(12)    Iambic   Dimeter   Hypercatalectic    (Alcgeus)  :  — 

(w)     /  / 

. —    _    v^   -r_  . 


r  r  '  r  r  r  *  r  c 

This  is  used  by  Alcseus  and  Horace  as  the  third  verse 
of  the  Alcaic  and  logaoedic  strophe,  and  therefore  the 
Thesis  is  never  resolved.  This  verse  occurs  only  in  Horace 
in  the  form  given  above.  In  Alcseus  the  first  and  fifth 
syllables  can  be  either  long  or  short.  The  Anacrusis  is 
generally  long  in  the  first  three  books  of  Horace's  Odes, 
and  always  long  in  the   fourth. 

(13)    Iambic   Dimeter   (Archilochus)  :  — 


Used  by  Archilochus  and  Horace  as  the  second  verse 
of  the  Epode,  and  in  asynartete  verses  ;  by  the  other 
poets  also  as  a  separate  measure. 

An  iambus  seldom  occurs  in  the  third  foot.  Resolution 
occurs  in  Horace  only  twice,  once  in  the  first  foot,  and 
once  in  order  to  produce  a  rhythmical  picture  (Ep.  15,  24; 
2,   62). 

15.   Trochaic  Metres. 

(14)    Trochaic  Tetrameter  Catalectic   (Archilochus):  — 


Trochaic  Metres.  63 

This  metre  is  common  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  drama, 
and  resembles  closely  the  Iambic  Trimeter,  except  that 
it  is  much  more  strictly  formed  in  the  Greek  tragedy. 
Resolution  of  the  Thesis  takes  place  most  frequently  in 
the  uneven  feet  and  in  the  first  half  of  the  verse  —  very 
seldom  in  the  seventh  Thesis. 

In  resolving  the  Arsis,  Euripides  first  dared  to  make  use 
of  dissyllabic  words,  or  the  penultimate  and  final  syllables  of 
trisyllables.  Very  rarely  do  two  monosyllables  occur  in  the 
Resolution,  if  they  are  not  closely  connected  with  a  follow- 
ing short  syllable.  The  dactyl  in  place  of  the  spondee  is 
not  allowed.  The  caesura  falls  in  tragedy  without  exception 
after  the  second  dipody  (^sch.  Pers.  164;  Soph.  Philoct. 
1402   are   corrupt   readings). 

If  the  sixth  foot  is  a  spondee,  it  cannot  be  a  dissyllable 
or  the  end  of  a  polysyllable. 

(15)    Trochaic  Dimeter  Catalectic  :  — 


r  '  r  '  r  '  r 


This  form  occurs  in  Horace,  Od.  II.  18  ;  also  frequently 
in  the  lyrical  parts  of  tragedy,  and  usually  just  as  here 
given. 

(16)  Trochaic  Tripody,  versus  ithyphallicus  (Archilo- 
chus) : — 


r 


Used    by    Archilochus    and    Horace    in    asynartete   verses 
with  a  preceding  Dactylic  Tetrameter. 


64  Metres,   Strophes,  and  Systems. 


16.    lonici  a  Minori. 
(17)    Decameter  (Alcaeus)  :  — 

\j  \j  ——  —  \y  w  —  —  w  \J  — -  _  \y  \j  —  _  I 

This   is   used   by  Horace,   in  imitation  of  Alcaeus,   in  the 
Odes.     The  caesura  falls  after  the  fourth  and  eighth  feet. 


17.    Logaoedic  Metres. 

(18)  Glyconic  (Sappho,  Anacreon)  ;  in  Horace  in  the 
following  form  :  — 

r  '  I '  *  b '  I  r  p  I  r  *  (°m'  •?  )i 

The    Glyconic    metre    was    originally    a    logaoedic    series 

with  a  two-syllable  Basis  of  any  convenient  quantity. 

This  license  belonged  also  to  the  Pherecratean  and 
Asclepiadean  verses,  which  were  derived  from  the  Glyconic. 
Catullus,  the  predecessor  of  Horace,  used  as  the  Basis  of 
the  Glyconic  and  Pherecratean,  generally  the  trochee,  more 
rarely  the  spondee  and  iambus.  Horace,  however,  uses 
the  spondee  exclusively  as  the  Basis  of  all  these  verses,  as 
Catullus  does  in  his  Asclepiadean  verses. 

The  tragedians  allow  in  the  Basis  of  the  Glyconic  verse 
beside  the  trochee,  spondee,  iambus,  and  pyrrhic,  also  the 
tribrach,  and  Euripides  even  admits  the  anapaest. 

Sophocles,  and  much  more  frequently  Euripides,  created 
very  varied  forms  of  the  Glyconic  {glyconei  polyschematisti) 
by  means  of  a  displacement  of  the  dactyl  and  other 
licenses, 


Logacedic  Meters.  65 

(19)  Pherecratean  (Sappho,  Anacreon)  :  — 

r  f  I '  b '  I  r  •   I  r  •?  i 

This   metre    is   not   used    alone,   but   only   in   combination 
with  Glyconic  and  Asclepiadean  verses. 

(20)  Lesser  Asclepiadean  (Alcaeus)  :  — 


j1  ^  >.^  ji  w  w  ^ 


r0     I     •:     a    0   \   »  '     10'     0     o   \   0        0   \   0  '      I 

This  verse  is  formed  by  the  insertion  of  one  choriambus 
after  the  Basis,  as  the  following  verse  is  formed  by  the 
insertion  of  two. 

The  caesura  after  the  sixth  foot  is  always  observed  by 
Horace,   though  sometimes  neglected  by  Alcseus. 

(21)    Greater  Asclepiadean,  dodecasyllabic  (Alcaeus)  :  — 


Cf.  No.  20.  The  caesura  after  the  sixth  and  tenth  sylla- 
bles is  often  neglected  by  Sappho,  Alcseus,  and  Catullus, 
never  by  Horace. 

(22)    Greater  Sapphic    (Sappho):  — 

^  \j  Z- Z-  I  \j  \j  /-  \j  Z^  \j 

Two  trochaic  dipodies,  divided  by  a  dactyl.  Horace 
employs  always  a  spondee  in  place  of  the  second  trochee. 
In  Sappho  the  fourth  syllable  is  either  long  or  short,  and 
Catullus  has  sometimes  a  short  syllable  here.  The  caesura 
is  generally  after  the  third  Thesis,  occasionally  (especially 
in  the  fourth  book  of  the  Odes  and  the  Carm.  Saec.)   after 


66  Metres,   Strophes,  mid  Systems. 

the   trochee  of  the   third   foot.      This   caesura  is  often  neg- 
lected by  Sappho  — by  Catullus  only  twice. 

(23)    Lesser  Sapphic,  aristophaneus    (Sappho):  — 


_^  w  \j  —^  ~  \j 


(24)  The  so-called  Sapphic  verse  of  fifteen  syllables  is 
formed  by  a  combination  from  the  beginning  and  end  of 
the  Greater  Sapphic,  but  this  occurs  first  in  Horace  :  — 


\^\jJL\JL^^  —  \J  —  ^ 


The  fifth  and  eighth  syllables  are  always  final. 
(25)    Alcaic  Hendecasyllabic   (Alcaeus):  — 


^^^^wji_ljiwwZ.^Z. 


Logaoedic  Metre  with  Anacrusis,  which  is  common  in 
Alcseus.  In  Horace  the  Anacrusis  is  generally  long  in  the 
first  three  books  of  Odes  and  always  so  in  the  fourth. 
Alcseus  has  often  the  original  trochee  instead  of  the  spondee 
before  the  csesura.  The  caesura  is  sometimes  neglected  by 
Alcseus,  but  only  twice  by  Horace  (I.  37,  14;  IV.  14,  17, 
though  these  verses  are  probably  corrupt). 


(26)    Alcaic   Decasyllabic  (Alcseus)  :  — 
This  forms  the  close  of  the  Alcaic  Strophe. 


18.    Asyuartete  Verse  (Mixed  Measures). 
(27)    Greater  Archilochian   (Archilochus)  :  — 

A   combination   of  the    Dactylic  Tetrameter  (No.   3)    and 
the  Versus  Ithyphallicus   (No.   16). 


The  Elegiac  Distich.  67 

(28)  Elegiambic    (Archilochus)  :  — 

A  combination  of  the  Dactylic  Trimeter  Catalectic 
(No.  5)  and  the  Iambic  Dimeter  (No.  13).  Short  sylla- 
bles and  Hiatus  occur  in  the  third  Thesis. 

(29)  lambelegiac  :  — 

A  combination  like  the  preceding,  but  with  the  order  of 
the  measures  reversed.  This  verse,  which  possesses  much 
force  and  liveliness  because  of  the  transition  from  the 
Iambic  to  the  Dactylic  measure,  is  first  found  in  Horace. 
A  short  syllable  often  occurs  in  the  fourth  Thesis. 

19.    The  Elegiac  Distich  (Callinus,  Archilochus). 

/  —   /  —   /   I  —  /  —   /  ( — )  / 

This  is  the  oldest  and  most  beautiful  verse-system  of  the 
Greeks ;  a  combination  of  the  Dactylic  Hexameter  and 
Pentameter  (Nos.  i  and  2).  It  was  employed  mostly  in  Epi- 
gram and  Elegy.  It  is  somewhat  less  appropriate  for  Didactic 
Poetry,  though  used  by  Ovid  in  the  Fasti  and  by  Propertius. 

It  was  a  favorite  metre  among  the  Greeks,  and  still  more 
so  among  the  Romans,  who  developed  it  with  marvellous 
artistic    skill. 

20.    The  Lyric   Strophes   of  Horace.' 

These  Eyrie  Strophes  of  Horace  are  all  composed  of  four 
lines,  perhaps  in  imitation  of  Alcgeus,  but  not  of  Archilochus. 

1  Here  are  given,  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  Distich,  the  most  usual 
schemes  of  the  individual  verses.  For  everything  else,  see  the  discussion 
in  the  preceding  section. 


68  Metres,   StropJics,  and  Systems. 

At  the  close  of  single  verses  Syllaba  Anceps  (sometimes  with 
a  final  consonant)  often  occurs,  more  rarely  Hiatus.  Some- 
times at  the  ends  of  the  first  three  verses  we  find  a  word 
divided  or  Elision.  In  both  these  cases  the  final  syllable  is 
always  long. 

(i)    Alcaic  Strophe  (Alc?eus)  :  — 

(-^  ^  w  -^  _ 

(-)  ^  w  ^   _ 


This  is  made  up  of  the  Alcaic  Hendecasyllabic  (No.  25), 
the  Enneasyllabic  (12),  and  the  Decasyllabic  (26),  and  is 
characterized  by  force  and  energy.  Therefore  it  is  Horace's 
favorite  metre,  and  employed  by  him  especially  in  Odes  of 
political  and  moral  content,  though  also  in  those  treating 
of  erotic  and  convivial  subjects.  It  is  the  metre  of  37 
Odes:  I.  9.  16.  17.  26.  27.  29.  31.  34.  35.  37;  II.  I.  3.  5. 
7.  9.  II.  13-15.  17.  19.  20;  III.  1-6.  17.  21.  23.  26.  29; 
IV.  4.  9.  14.  15. 

Elision  at  the  end  of  the  verse  occurs  in  II.  3.  27;  III. 
29-  35- 

(2)    Sapphic  Strophe  (Sappho):  — 


/ 

\J 

/ 



/ 

\    w 

KJ    ^ 

W 

/ 

\J 

/_ 

w 

/ 



/ 

1     ^ 

W    I- 

w 

/ 

\u 

/ 

\J 

/ 



/ 

I    w 

W    ^ 

Vw/ 

/ 

\J 

/ 

w 

KJ 

/ 

KJ 

Made  up  of  the  Sapphic  Hendecasyllabic  (22)  and  the 
Adonic  (6).  This  strophe  has  more  grace  and  tenderness 
than  force  and  energy.  Hence  it  would,  perhaps,  have 
been  better  if  Horace  had  not  used  it  so  often  in  Odes 
written  in  lofty  style.     It  occurs  in    26   Odes:    I.   2.    10.    12. 


Lyric  StropJus  of  Horace.  69 

20.   22.    25.   30.   32.    T^^;    II.    2.   4.   6.  8.   10.   16;    III.  8.    II. 
14.  18.  20.  22.  27;  IV.  2.  6.  II  ;  Carm.  Saec. 

Elision  at  tlie  end  of  a  verse  occurs  in  II.  2,  18;  16,  34; 
IV.  2,  22  ;  23  ;  Carm.  Saec.  47.  The  division  of  a  word, 
in  each  case  at  the  end  of  the  third  verse,  occurs  four 
times:    I.   2,    19;    25,   11;    II.    16,   7;    III.   27,  59. 

(3)    Second   Sapphic  Strophe:  — 


Made    up    of  the    Lesser   Sapphic  (23)   and  the   so-called 
fifteen-syllabled  Sapphic  (24).     i,  8. 

(4)    First   Asclepiadean   Strophe  :  — 


Made  up  of  the  Lesser  Asclepiadean  repeated  (20).    I.  i  ; 
III.   30;    IV.  8. 

(5)    Second  Asclepiadean  Strophe:  — 


/ 

/ 

^ 

KJ 

/ 

1     ^W 

W 

/ 

\J 

/ 

/_ 

/ 

w 

\y 

/ 

1    ^W 

\J 

/ 

\J 

/ 

/ 

/ 

w 

K^ 

/ 

i   ^w 

vy 

/ 

\J 

^ 

/ 

/ 

v^ 

\J 

/ 

\J    

Made  up  of  the  Lesser  Asclepiadean  (20)  and  the 
Glyconic  (18).  The  metre  of  nine  Odes:  I.  6.  15.  24. 
II ;  II.    12  ;   III.    10.    16;   IV.  5.   12. 

(6)    Tliird    Asclepiadean  Strophe  :  — 


Made    up    of  the    Lesser   Asclepiadean    (20),    the    Phere- 


70  Metres,   Strophes,  and  Systems. 

cratean    (19)    and    the    Glyconic   (18).       Occurs    in    seven 
Odes:    I.  5.   14.  21.  23;   III.   7.   13;   IV.   13. 

(7)    Fourth  Asclepiadean  Strophe:  — 


/ 

/ 

^u 

W 

/ 

W    ^ 

/ 

/ 

\J 

W 

/ 

1      ^ 

\y 

\y 

^  w 

/ 

z. ._ 

/ 

KJ 

^ 

/ 

^  z. 

/ 

/ 

\J 

W 

/ 

1  ^ 

\y 

V-/ 

^  w 

/ 

Made  up  of  the   Glyconic   (18)   and   the   Lesser  Asclepia- 
dean (20).     This  is  the  metre  of  12  Odes:   I.  3.  13.   19.  36; 

III.  9.    15.    19.   24.   25.   28;    IV.    I.   3.      Elision  at  the  end 
of  a  verse  occurs  in  IV.   i,  35. 

(8)  Fifth    Asclepiadean    Strophe    (used    by    Sappho    and 
Catullus,   but   in   couplets)  :  — 

Made  up  of  Greater  Asclepiadean  verses  (21).     I.  11.  18; 

IV.  10.  • 

(9)  First  Archilochian  Strophe  :  — 

j^   CX3    j£.    cx:;   j1  |  00  j^  00  ^  \j  \j  ^  \j 
-^  ^  \j  /-  ^u  \j  Z- 

Z.     Cv:>     /-      CyO     /^    I    kKj  —  kKj   ^   \J    KJ   —   kj 

—    \^    KJ    —    \^    KJ    jI. 

Made  up  of  the   Dactylic   Hexameter   (i)   and  Catalectic 
Trimeter   (5).     IV.    7. 

(10)  Second  Archilochian  Strophe:  — 

_  00  _  C^  _  I   C70    _  CXy  _  Kj'^  —  KJ 

^  00  jL  cv^  ^  I  cx^  -^  ca:>  J^  kjkj  —  kj 
Made   up    of  the   Dactylic   Hexameter  (i)   and  the   Cata- 


Epodic  Systems.  71 

lectic  Tetrameter  (4).     i,   7,  28,      Also  used  in  Epode    12, 
but  in  couplets. 

(11)   Third    Archilochian    Strophe    (used    by    Archilochus 
in   couplets)  :  — 


/_  wO  —  WW  /-    I    WW  /^    \J    \J 


Made    up    of    the    Greater    Archilochian     (27)     and    the 
Iambic  Trimeter  Catalectic    (n).     I.   4. 

(12)    Hipponactean  Strophe:  — 


A  combination  of  the  Trochaic  Dimeter  Catalectic  (15) 
and   the   Iambic  Trimeter  Catalectic   (n).     II.   18. 

(13)    Strophe  of  lonici  a  minori :  — 

Kj  \j  —  —  \j  \^  —  —  \^  '^  —  —  \y  \j  —  —  I  Kj  \j  S-  S-  \j  \j  _  _ 

Made  up  of  the  lonicus  a  minori  Decameter  (17) 
(repeated).     III.   12. 

Syllaba  Anceps  and  Hiatus  are  not  allowed  except  at  the 
close  of  the  Strophe. 

21.    Epodic   Systems. 

The  Epodes  of  Horace  are  written  in  couplets,  except 
the    last,    which    is     made    up    of    Iambic    Trimeters    Kura 


72  Metres,   Strophes,  and  Systems. 

(i)  Iambic  System  (Archilochus)  :  — 

/_ 

Made  up  of  the   Iambic  Trimeter  (iO(^)   and  the  Iambic 
Dimeter   (13).     Ep.    i-io. 

(2)    First  Archilochian  System:  — 

Tj  (ww)  ^^c:   |Z.^Z.    "cr   ^  \j  A. 


/ 


\J^ 


—    \J     \J    —     I     \^J—  \jZ-\-/    —    \J    — 


Made  up  of  the  Iambic  Trimeter  (10/^)  and  the  Elegi- 
ambic   (28).     Ep,   11. 

(3)  Second  Archilochian  System  :  — 

Kj  _  ^j  _  O  _  v^  _    I    __  \u  \y  —  \^  w  — 

Made  up  of  the  Dactylic  Hexameter  ( i )  and  the  lam- 
belegiac    (29).     Ep.    13. 

(4)  Third  Archilochian  System;  — 

_   00   —   00    -^    I     00    _   CaIP     —    \J    \J    —    \J 

Made  up  of  the  Dactylic  Hexameter  (i)  and  the  Dac- 
tylic Tetrameter  Catalectic  (4).  Ep.  12.  Cf.  also  Strophe 
10  of  the  Lyrical  Metres, 

(5)  First  Pythiambic  System:  — 

_  00  —  CO  —    I    CO  —  00  —   \J   \J   ^   KJ 

Made  up  of  the  Dactylic  Hexameter  (i)  and  the  Iambic 
Dimeter  (13).     Ep.   14.    15. 


Epodic  Systems.  73 

(6)    Second  Pythiambic  System  :  — 

Made  up  of  the   Dactylic    Hexameter   (i)    and    the    pure 
Iambic  Trimeter   (loa).     Ep.    16. 


FOURTH    SECTION. 


-O-oJSt^CKJ- 


ON  METRICAL   LICENSES. 
22.    Preface. 

The  structure  of  the  verse  is  determined  by  fixed  laws, 
which,  however,  are  sometimes  neglected  or  evaded. 

Still  such  exceptions  are  almost  never  arbitrary  in  the 
classical  writers;  rather  do  they,  too,  fall  under  definite 
rules,  which  are  of  only  less  wide  application  than  the 
general  laws  of  the  verse.  They  are,  so  to  speak,  disso- 
nances resolved  into  a  higher  consonance. 

23.    Metrical   Licenses. 

The  metrical  licenses  and  peculiarities  of  the  poets  can 
be  reduced  to  eight  cases  :  — 

(i)  The  beginning  of  every  metrical  series  has  greater 
freedom  than  the  end  of  the  series  formed  either  by  the 
caesura   or   the   close    of  the   verse. 

(2)  Long  verses  enjoy  greater  freedom  than  short;  so 
long  poems  offer  greater  opportunity  for  metrical  licenses 
than  shorter  ones  which  must  be  especially  characterized 
by  elegance  and  beauty  of  form. 

(3)  Variation  of  subject-matter  often  introduces  varia- 
tion of  metrical  laws,  especially  among  the  Greeks.  Thus 
epic  poetry,  as  well  as  didactic,  satirical,  and  elegiac,  has 
certain    peculiar    forms    of  the    Hexameter.      In    the    same 

74 


Metrical  Licenses.  75 

way,    the    lyric    versification    has    its    pecuUarities,   and   tliat 
of  comedy  often  differs  widely  from  that  of  tragedy. 

(4)  Further,  it  is  clear  that  the  inventor  of  a  metre,  or 
one  who  introduces  innovations  therein,  treats  it  more 
freely  than  later  writers  who  follow  the  path  which  he  has 
opened  up.  The  Hexameter  of  Ennius  differs  widely  from 
that  of  Vergil ;  the  lyric  measures  of  Horace  from  those  of 
Seneca.  In  general,  it  is  true  that  the  more  frequently  any 
metre  is  used,  the  more  exact  is  its  structure. 

(5)  The  later  works  of  an  author  are  usually  more 
polished  than  the  earlier.  For  instance,  the  Hexameters 
of  Horace's  Epistles  are  more  carefully  formed  than  those 
of  the  Satires. 

(6)  As  the  metrical  art  of  the  famous  poets  of  antiquity 
continued  to  be  the  standard  for  those  who  came  later,  or  at 
least  exercised  great  influence  on  them,  it  is  very  important 
to  observe  what  model  of  versification  each  poet  has  fol- 
lowed. The  Hexameters  of  the  post-Augustan  poets  vary 
according  as  they  follow  Vergil  or  Ovid. 

(7)  Frequently  the  metrical  licenses  of  a  verse  can  be 
explained  by  the  occurrence  in  the  verse  of  proper  names, 
or  (in  I>atin)  of  Greek  words,  especially  immediately  before 
such  words ;  for  proper  names  cannot  be  arbitrarily 
rewritten  or  altered.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  too,  that  the 
ancient  poets  employed  these  names  much  more  frequently 
than  those  of  modern  times.  Moreover,  Greek  words 
appear  in  Latin  verse  to  justify  of  themselves,  at  the  same 
time,  the  metrical  licenses  borrowed  from  the  Greeks.  In 
didactic  poetry  the  so-called  termini  tecJinici,  in  the  Chris- 
tian writers  sacred  words  as  spiritus,  eccksia,  usually  give 
rise  to  metrical  licenses,  for  these  words  approach  nearly 
to   proper    names.     In   the    same    class,    too,   fall    sometimes 


76  Meti'ical  Licenses. 

words  of  four  or  more  syllables,  as  well  as  the  most  com- 
mon pronouns,  adverbs,  prepositions  and  conjunctions,  and 
certain  fixed  expressions  like    "^  ow,"    "ergo   age,"    "  quare 

age." 

(8)  Finally  metrical  licenses  are  not  seldom  occasioned 
by  an  impassioned  movement  of  the  language  which  shows 
itself  in  rhetorical  figures,  especially  in  the  repetition  of  the 
same  word   (anaphora)   or  in  antithesis. 

It  is  often  true  that  several  of  these  reasons  combine  to 
explain  a  single  case  of  metrical  license. 

In  Greek  poetry  metrical  licenses  are  much  more  fre- 
quent than  in  Latin,  although  there  are  cases  where  several 
of  them  occur  in  a  single  Latin  Hexameter  when  some  of 
the  above-mentioned  excuses  are  present.  Thus  the  verse  of 
Vergil :  — 

Nereidum  matii  et  Neptuno  Aegaeo, 

contains  two  cases  of  hiatus  —  a  spondee  in  the  fifth  foot, 
and  a  violation  of  the  rhythmical  laws  of  this  same  foot. 


FIFTH    SECTION, 


-»o>0<oo- 


ON   THE   RHYTHMICAL  STRUCTURE    OF   THE    VERSE. 
24.    General  Remarks. 

(i)  As  poetry,  at  least  in  its  higher  forms,  seeks  to  differen- 
tiate itself  as  widely  as  possible  from  the  ordinary  methods 
of  expression  in  prose,  the  poets  avoid  allowing  the  rhythm 
of  the  verse  to  coincide  with  the  prose  accent  of  the  words, 
as  far  as  it  is  at  all  practicable.  It  is  likewise  considered 
improper  to  introduce  a  verse  into  prose. 

The  first  law,  then,  is  that  there  shall  be  the  greatest 
possible  difference  between  the  metrical  rhythm  and  the 
prose  accent.  This  law  naturally  has  the  least  force  in  those 
parts  of  the  verse  which  admit  the  greatest  freedom  of 
structure,  as  at  the  beginning  of  a  metrical  series,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  verse,  or  after  the  caesura,  as  e.g.  in  Vergil :  — 

litora,  multum  ille  et  terris  jactatus  et  alto, 
ipse  hostis  Teucros  |  iitsigiii  laude  ferebat. 

This  law  is  further  modified  by  the  following  rules. 

(2)  As  the  verse  becomes  in  the  first  instance  a  work 
of  art  by  the  close  and  harmonious  combination  of  the 
feet,  it  is  not  usual,  at  least  in  the  longer  verses,  to  allow 
single  feet  to  consist  of  single  words.  Consequently  the 
following  Hexameter  from   I-^nnius  is  bad  :  — 

sparsis  hostis  longis  campus  splendet  et  horret. 

77 


^8  RJiytliniical  StJ'uctnre  of  the  Verse. 

In  order  therefore  that  the  verse  may  not  fall  apart,  the 
individual  feet  must  run  into  each  other  as  much  as  possi- 
ble, and  this  result  is  obtained  most  effectually  by  the 
greatest  possible  difference  between  the  compass  of  the  indi- 
vidual words  and  of  the  single  feet. 

(3)  Finally,  the  end  of  every  metrical  series,  be  it  at 
the  caesura  or  at  the  end  of  the  verse,  must  faithfully 
represent  the  rhythm  of  the  foot  with  which  it  ends,  e.g. 
the  anapaestic  rhythm  at  the  Penthemimeral  Caesura  of  the 
Dactylic  Hexameter,  and  the  trochaic  at  the  end  of  the 
whole  verse. 

Since  it  is  the  first  law  of  ancient  versification  that  the 
metrical  rhythm  shall  differ  as  far  as  possible  from  the 
prose  accent,  it  is  considered  less  objectionable  when,  at 
the  end  of  a  metrical  series,  the  original  rhythm  is  vio- 
lated in  such  a  way  that  the  poetical  rhythm  does  not 
harmonize  with  the  prose  accent,  than  when  the  opposite 
is  true.  This  can  be  observed  in  the  rhythmical  laws  of 
the   Hexameter. 

At  the  caesural  pause,  the  end  of  the  metrical  series,  the 
rhythm  of  which  must  be  kept  pure,  consists  of  one  foot; 
at  the  close  of  longer  verses  of  one  and  a  half  or  two 
feet,  and  at  the  close  of  shorter  verses  of  one. 

It  is,  however,  clear  that  this  rule  is  principally  applica- 
ble to  poetry  written  Karh.  cttlxov,  and  to  such  systems  as 
are  not  united  by  Synapheia,  as  e.g.  the  Dactylic  Distich 
and  the  Iambic  Epode.  Where  Synapheia  can  or  must 
occur,  and  the  single  verses  forni  properly  only  sections  of 
a  single  metrically  harmonious  whole,  violations  of  the  rule 
in  (juestion   are  more  frequent  and  more  easily  pardoned. 

Above  all,  the  occurrence  of  a  monosyllable  at  the  end 
of  a   metrical  series  is  to  be  avoided,  except  where  another 


Structure  of  Hexameter  and  Petitaiiietcr.  79 

monosyllable  precedes,  and  this  rule  is  so  much  the  more 
to  be  observed,  the  longer  the  preceding  word  is  and  the 
greater  the  number  of  morcc.  that  it  has.  Therefore  the 
least  unpleasant  effect  is  produced  where  a  pyrrhic  word 
precedes  the  monosyllable.  Hence  the  verses  from  Vergil 
are  bad  :  — 

et  cum  frigida  mors  anima  secluxerit  artus. 

dat  latus.      insec|aitur  cumulo  praeruptus  aquae  mons. 

The  reason  for  this  is  that  a  monosyllable,  on  account 
of  its  small  compass,  has  not  the  force  necessary  to  draw 
towards  itself  a  polysyllable,  and  the  consequence  is  that 
in  verses  like  those  just  quoted  the  end  of  the  metrical 
series  is  separated.  A 

25.    Rhythmical    Structure   of   the    Hexameter    and 

Pentameter. 

We  wish  to  explain  more  at  length  the  above-mentioned 
laws  in  the  case  of  some  of  the  most  common  metres, 
since  these  are  at  the  same  time  the  most  carefully  formed, 
and  to  do  this  by  illustration  from  the  Latin  poets  —  for 
they  developed  the  single  metres  especially  as  regards 
rhythm  more  carefully  than  the  Greeks,  —  remembering  that 
nearly  the  same  rhythmical  laws  are  valid  also  for  Greek 
poetry.  \ 

We  consider  first  the  Dactylic  Hexameter; 

First  of  all,  it  is  plain  that  no  wor4  ending  with  a  dactyl 
can  stand  in  the  second  and  third  foot  of  the  Hexameter, 
—  still  less-  a  word  ending  in  a  spondee,  since  the  spondee 
is  not  the  original  measure  of  this  verse. 

So  we  find  only  twice  in  Horace  (Epist.  I.  18,  52  ;  H. 
3,  41)   a  word  ending  with  a  dactyl  in  the   third  foot,  and 


8o  RhytJiniical  Structure  of  the  Verse. 

not  at  all  in  the  other  poets  considered  here.  Furt'^'^'- 
Vergil  and  Propertius  (not  Ovid  and  Tibullus)  h?- 
seldom  in  the  second  foot  a  word  ending  with  a  dactyl, 
and  never  one  ending  with  a  spondee.  In  Horace  in  the 
Episdes  and  Satires  this  occurrence  is  somewhat  more 
frequent.  Hence  the  following  lines  cannot  be  recom- 
mended  in  this  respect :  — 

et  cum  frigiiia  mors  anima  seduxerit  artus. 
per  coniibia  nostra,  per  inceyijs  hymenaeos. 

Still  worse  is  this  from  Ennius  :  — 

ore  Cf/hcgiis  Mnn^r'  Tuditano  coUega. 

Less  frequently  vlo  "e  find  before  the  Penther  "meral 
Cresura   a   pyrrhic  word  followed  by  a  monosyllable,  as  :  — 

ille  autem  :   neqiie  tc  \  Phcebi  cortina  fcfellit. 

it-  to  find  two  or  three  monosyllables  :  — 

/jff)  quoties  et  quae  \  nobis  Galatea  locutast. 
1'       simplicior  qitis  ct  est?  \  qualem  me  saepe  libenter. 

It  is  usual  at  -t>^  ^^  ^rithemimeral  Caesura  to  find  a  word 
ending  with  an  r      ^.^z.,  spondee,  or  iambus. 

What  has  just  been  said  holds  also  for  the  Hephthe- 
mimeral  Caesura.'  On  the  other  hand,  a  dactylic  word  not 
seldom  forms  ue  arsis  of  the  Trithemimeral  Caesura,  since 
this  lies  in  the' first  foot. 

At  the  end  of  the  sixth  foot  a  monosyllable  is  allowed 
only  when  the  the.:'*;  is  also  a  monosyllable  :  —  ,/. 

at  Boreae  de  part         "^  cum  fulminat  et  cum. 

The  thesis    of  the   fifth   fdJl"^"*'  'onosyi'able   if  a 

pyrrhic  word  or  two  monosyllables  tollow  ■.     ,f 

nam  ncque  Parnasi  vobis  juga,  nam  iieqiie  Pindi. 
cederet  aut  quarta  socialiter.     hie  et  in  Acci. 


Structure  of  Hexameter  and  Pentameter.         8i 

But  a  monosyllable  is  disagreeable  in  the  fifth  thesis  if  a 
^  more  than  two  syllables  follows.  In  the  same  way 
me  titiii  rhesis  cannot  be  the  end  of  a  polysyllable,  for  in 
such  a  case  this  (thesis)  becomes  anapaestic  through  its  close 
connection  with  the  arsis  of  the  fourth  foot,  while  it  is 
separated  from  the  fifth  arsis  which  belongs  to  it,  by  the 
end  of  the  word.  Consequently  verses  like  the  following 
seldom  occur  :  — 

fixerit  aeripedem  cervam  licet  aut  Erymanthi. 

tres  Antenoridas  Cererique  sacrum  Polyphoeten. 

Finally,  it    is   not  usual   to    make  the  fifth  and  sixth  feet 

out  of  one  word  of  five  '^yllaVles,  ...  'n  Horace  :  — 

.1 . 
di visit  medium  fortissima   Tyndaridarum. 

The  reason  for  this  is  that,  in  Latin,  the  two  last  sylla- 
bles of  such  long  words  are  usually  inflectional  rv  derivative 
endings,   and   the   beginning  a  prepositic'-  cnt^  ?- 

fore  have  more  sound  than  meaning,  they  see  feebi  t 
the  end  of  the  verse  which  should  close  forcibly,  i.  is  foi 
this  cause  and  not  for  metrical  .-^  '^n''  that  they  are 
avoided.  In  Greek,  on  the  other  hi  ,  .  e-syllabled  words 
are  usually  compounds  of  noun  and  verb,  and  not  so  empiy 
of  meaning  as  most  Latin  words  of  corresponding  length. 
Hence  there  is  far  less  reason  for  avoiding  vhem. 

It  is  usual  to  find  in   the   fifth   foot  a  word  with  dactylic 

ending,  and  in  the  sixth  a  dissyllable  ;   or  ii;  the  first  case  a 

'ord  with  trochaic  ending,  and  in  the  ser'nd  a  trisyllable  :  — 

in  nova  fert  animus  '  tS  dicere  formas. 

insit""  «)t  ad/>t'  labor es. 

But  the  secoi.  arsis  of  the  fifth  foot  can  be  a  mono- 
syllable :  — 

arma  virumque  cano,  Troiae  c|ui  primus  ab  oris. 


82  RhytJimical  Structure  of  the  Verse. 

A  monosyllable  in  the  sixth  foot  preceded  by  a  polysyl- 
lable occurs  more  than  forty  times  in  Vergil ;  in  Ovid  only 
eleven  times.  Vergil  violates  the  rhythmical  laws  of  the 
fifth  foot  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  times;  Ovid  only 
eighty  times.  Many  of  the  later  writers  are  still  more 
strict.  Horace,  on  the  other  hand,  is  less  strict  in  the 
Hexameters  of  the  Satires  and  Epistles.  The  exceptions 
found  in  Vergil  and  Ovid  are  almost  always  occasioned  by 
one  of  the  reasons  noted  in  Section  4. 

Moreover,  Vergil  makes  admirable  use  of  discordant 
verse-endings  in  order  to  express  by  the  rhythm  itself  what 
is  dreadful,  weird,  or  unexpected :  — 

vertitur  interea  caelum  et  ruit  Oceano  nox. 
et  nunc  ille  Paris  cum  semiviro  comitatu. 

With  comic  effect  in  the  Georgics,  I.   181:  — 

turn  variae  illudant  pestes:  saepe  exiguus  mus. 

To  excuse  the  license  of  a  spondee  in  the  fifth  foot,  the 
poets  used  most  frequently  a  word  of  four  syllables,  or 
sometimes  a  trisyllable ;  but  in  this  latter  case  another 
word    of   at    least    three    syllables    ordinarily    preceded    this 

trisyllable  :  — 

armatumque  auro  circumspicit  Oriona. 

perqiie  hiemes  aestusque  et  inaequales  autumnos. 

Vergil  has  twice  (^n.  HI.  12;  VHI.  679)  an  ending 
borrowed  from  Enpius  of  this  sort :  — 

et  magois  dis. 

It  is  never  the  case  in  Latin  that  a  spondaic  verse  has 
a  dissyllable  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  place. 

All  these  laws,  with  the  exception  of  the  use  of  five- 
syllabled  words   at   the    end   of  the  verse,  are   equally  valid 


Structure  of  the  Remaining  Metres.  ^t, 

for  Greek  poetry,  although  here  exceptions  are  more 
numerous,  especially  as  regards  the  verse- ending,  and  also 
the  second  foot  where,  on  account  of  the  frequency  of  the 
Top.-q  Kara  rpirov  Tpo)(ixlov,  dactylic  words  occur  not  rarely, 
and  spondaic  words  much  more  rarely,  as  in  the  first  verse 
of  the  Odyssey  :  — 

avopa   fxoL   Ivvcttc,    Movaa,   TroXvTpoirov,    os   paXu.   TroAXa. 

A  spondaic  verse  with  a  dissyllable  in  the  fifth  or  sixth 
foot  never  occurs  in  Homer. 

The  rhythmical  laws  of  the  Pentameter  are  still  more 
strict  than  those   of  the  Hexameter. 

In  the  Latin  writers  considered  here,  a  dactylic  or  spon- 
daic word  never  occurs  in  the  second  foot,  and  only  once 
(Ovid,  Pont.  I.  6,  26)  at  the  end  of  the  verse  do  we  find 
a  monosyllabic  enclitic  word  with  preceding  pyrrhic.  Here, 
too,  the  Greeks  are  less  strict  than  the  Romans,  but  much 
stricter  than  in  the  Hexameter. 

The  Greeks  and  many  Romans  are  wont  to  close  the 
Pentameter  with  any  polysyllable,  but  the  most  careful 
Romans  (Tibullus,  Propertius  in  Bks.  IV.  and  V.,  and  Ovid 
in  most  of  his  post-exilian  poetry  and  always  in  his  pre- 
exiliafi)  close  this  verse  with  a  dissyllable  preceded  by 
a  word  with  trochaic  ending  —  evidently  in  order  in  this 
way  to  make  its  termination  like  that  of  a  Hexameter 
ending  with  a  trisyllable.  /' 


26.    Rhythmical   Structure   of  the   Remaining  Metres. 

The  rhythmical  laws  of  the  Iambic  Trimeter  are  precisely 
the  same  as  those  of  the  Hexameter.  Consequently  those 
verses  cannot  be  approved  which   have  at  the  Penthemime- 


84  RJiytJiniical  Striictjire  of  tJic  Verse. 

ral  Caesura  a  monosyllable  with  a  preceding  polysyllable,  as 
in  Horace  : — 

diris  again  vos,  dira  detestatio. 

It  is  much  worse  when  the  third  iambus  closes  with  a 
word  which  has  an  iambic  or  spondaic  (anapaestic)  ending, 
as  in  the  following  examples  :  — 

regnante  te  vides  ut  imperium  cadat. 

sed  simplici  carmen  per  omne  evectus  est. 

For  in  these  cases  the  verse  is  divided  into  two  equal 
halves,  and  the  Hephthemimeral  Caesura  loses  almost  all  its 
force.  Such  verses  never  occur  in  Horace  and  Phsedrus, 
very  seldom  in  the  Greek  tragedians,  but  more  often  in 
the  Greek  comedians. 

Phsedrus,  in  order  not  to  dim  the  original  iambic  char- 
acter of  his  verse,  never  places  a  word  which  itself  has  a 
spondaic  or  anapaestic  ending  at  the  end  of  the  second, 
third,  or  fourth  foot. 

A  monosyllable  with  preceding  polysyllable  at  the  end  of 
a  verse  is  bad,  unless  this  monosyllable  is  enclitic,  as  in 
Sophocles  :  — 

ovh    av   8i/<at'ws    es    kukov  TreaoLjxi    tl, 
or  in  Phsedrus  :  — 

timore  mortis  ille  turn  confessus  est. 

Horace  avoids  even  this,  but  the  Greek  tragedians  occa- 
sionally admit  monosyllables  at  the  end  of  the  verse  when 
they  are  not  at  all  enclitic.  .^^ 

As  regards  systems  and  strophes  in  which  Synapheia  is 
allowed,  —  that  is,  in  the  ^olic,  Doric,  and  dramatic,  —  it  is 
clear  that  the  rhythmical  laws  for  ccesura  and  verse-endings 
must  be  less  strictly  observed  at  the  time  when  the  appre- 
ciation of  the  original  metrical  unity  of  the  individual  parts 


Structure  of  the  Remaining  Metres.  85 

of  system  and  strophe  is  still  lively.  Hence  even  Horace 
has  sometimes  a  monosyllable  with  preceding  polysyllable 
at  the  end  of  a  logaoedic  verse,  as  :  — 

alme  Sol,  curru  nitido  diem  qui. 
audivcre,  Lyce,  di  mea  vola,  di. 

In  the  Alcaic  hendecasyllabic  an  iambic  word  rarely 
occurs  before  the  caesura,  as  HI.   i,  9  :  — 

est  ut  viro  rir  latius  ordinet. 

In  too  close  imitation  of  the  Alcaic  hendecasyllabic, 
Horace  avoids  similar  words  in  the  same  places  in  the 
Alcaic  enneasyllabic,  except  at  I.  26,  11  in  a  proper  name. 
In  Horace,  too,  a  spondaic  word-ending  never  occurs  as 
the  second  foot  of  the  Sapphic  hendecasyllabic,  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  he  has  sometimes  a  dactylic  word  before  the 
cgesural  pauses  of  the  Asclepiadean  verses,  as  I.  6,   17:  — 

nos  convivia,  nos  |  proelia  virginum. 

In  general,  wherever  the  strophes  were  only  mechanically 
formed,  or  the  verses  written  Kara  (ttCxov,  the  rules  were 
much  more  strictly  observed,  as  is  shown  in  the  tragedies  of 
Seneca. 


SIXTH    SECTION. 


-oo'i^ixy- 


ENCLISIS    AND    TMESIS. 

27.    Enclisis. 

In  order  to  correctly  employ  the  rules  already  given,  it 
is  necessary  to  observe  the  rules  of  Enclisis  and  Tmesis. 
By  Enclisis  the  enclitic  word  loses  its  own  individuality  and 
is  merged  into  the  preceding,  so  that  no  monosyllable  really 
concludes  the  verse,  as  in  the  following  example  :  — 

aXX    oio     ws    erdpovi  ippvaaro,    te/ACi/os    irep. 

pectora  quorum  inter  fluctus  arrecta  ]nba.egt{e.  f 

It  is  natural  that  monosyllables  which  always  stand  in 
the  second  place,  as  /xev,  8e,  ydp,  should  be  quite  closely 
connected  with  the  preceding  word. 

The  cases  of  Enclisis  in  Greek  are  well  known.  In 
Latin,  besides  (^i/t\  ve,  ne,  the  monosyllabic  forms  of  the 
indefinite  pronoun  qiiis,  in  combination  with  si,  ne,  nmn, 
cum,  and  in  the  formula  ucscioqiiis,  are  used  enclitically ; 
also  the  pronouns  me,  te,  se,  nos,  vos  in  combination  with 
prepositions  ending  in  tra  and  kr,  as  e.g.  inter,  intra. 
Finally  the  monosyllabic  forms  of  the  Indicative  and  Sub- 
junctive of  sum  were  sometimes  used  as  enclitics,  when  a 
pyrrhic,  tribrachic,  or  trochaic  word  preceded,  but  only  on 
condition  that  the  syllable  before  the  auxiliary  remained  short. 

It  is  to    be    noticed    that    titm    cum    usually    becomes    one 
word,   as  satisesse,  quopacto,  and  often  priusquam,  iamiam. 
86 


Tmesis.  87 

28.    Tmesis. 

I.  By  Tmesis,  in  Homer  and  the  tragedians,  the  prep- 
osition of  a  compound  verb  is  frequently  separated  from 
its  verb,  generally  by  the  interposition  of  one,  or  two  or 
three  short  words,  e.g. :  — 

The  preposition  stands  only  rarely  after  the  verb,  evi- 
dently because  it  might  then  easily  seem  superfluous. 

In  Latin  poetry,  cumque  is  often  separated  from  the 
relative  pronouns  and  adverbs  to  which  it  belongs,  and 
sometimes  in  prose.     Thus  in  Horace  :  — 

qiictii  sors  dierum  ctiDiqtie  dabit. 

Mihi  ciimqiic  (Od.  I.  32,   15)   is  a  corrupt  reading. 

Note  the  passage  in  Vergil,  Georg.  IH.  381,  septem 
siihjecta  trioiii,  which  was  imitated  by  Ovid,  Met.  I.  64, 
Scythiam  septemqiie  trione?ti. 

Elsewhere  in  the  poets  of  the  Augustan  age.  Tmesis 
occurs  only  in  the  case  of  jDrepositions  which  are  also  used 
independently  as  adverbs,  as  in  Horace:  — 

circum 
spectemus  vacuam  Romanis  vatibus  aedem. 

Vergil,  however,  following  the  example  of  the  older  poets, 
has  (Eel.  VHI.  17;  ^E^n.  IX.  288;  X.  794)  prae,  and  the 
negative  in  (always  with  a  following  qtic^  thus  separated ; 
and  Ovid  imitates  him  in  Met.  XII.  497. 

II.  Another  kind  of  Tmesis,  not  expressed  in  the  text, 
occurs  when  the  monosyllabic  preposition  or  negative  in  of 
a  compound  word  is  for  metrical  reasons  attracted  to  the 
preceding  word. 


88  Eiiclisis  a?id  Tmesis. 

This    occurs   on   account   of   the    caesura   in   the   following 
Horatian  verses  :  — 

dum   flagrantia  dc  \  torquet  ad  oscula, 
ut  adsidens  iii  \  plumihus  pullis  avis, 
parentibusque  ah  \  ominatus  Hannibal ; 

and  in  this  from  Vergil :  — ■ 

magnanimi  lovis  in  \  gratum  adscendere  cubile, 

to  release  the  first  syllable  from  the  second  part  of  the 
compound.  This  kind  of  Tmesis  occurs  (very  rarely)  in 
Vergil  in  the  ^neid,  in  Horace  and  Propertius,  in  Phcedrus 
III.   15,  6  ;  V.   7,   19,  but  not  in  Ovid  and  Tibullus. 


SEVENTH    SECTION. 


-oo;*;oo- 


ON    THE    TREATMENT    OF    SUCCESSIVE   VOWEL 

SOUNDS. 

29.    Synizesis,  Diaeresis,  Crasis,  Elision,  Hiatus. 

Introductory  Remarks.  —  When  two  vowels  come  to- 
gether in  the  middle  of  a  word  or  at  the  end  of  one  word 
and  beginning  of  another  (in  Latin  also,  when  the  first 
syllable  or  word  ends  with  in,  or  the  second  syllable  or 
word  begins  with  h),  there  is  a  certain  stopping  of  the 
voice,  and  a  so-called  Hiatus  occurs.  An  attempt  is  made 
to  avoid  this  in  various  ways,  principally  through  a  com- 
bination of  the  vowels  by  means  of  Contraction,  Synizesis, 
and  Elision.  Among  the  Greeks  those  least  sensitive  to 
this  Hiatus  were  the  lonians,  as  is  shown  by  the  Homeric 
poems.  The  Romans  were  on  the  whole  much  more  sensi- 
tive in  this  matter  than  the  Greeks. 

Hiatus  at  the  end  of  a  word  is  the  most  unpleasant ;  less 
so  in  the  middle  of  a  compound,  and  still  less  so  in  a 
simple  word.  Hiatus  in  Homer  is  often  only  apparent,  as 
the  digamma  frequently  is  to  be  considered  as  removing  it ; 

e.i^.  feKTf^oXo'i,  /reVo?,  /toikos,  ^oivos,  OeopeLKeXo?,  Aftbrj';, 
af€K(ji)v,  'Arpe/rtST^?.  In  course  of  time  the  (Greeks  and 
Romans  became  gradually  less  sensitive  to  hiatus,  and  there- 
fore cases  of  harsh  synizesis  and  elision  became  rare.  How- 
ever, greater  freedom  in  the   allowance  of  hiatus  at  the  end 

89 


90  Treatment  of  Successive  Vowel  Sounds. 

of  a  word  is  not  found  in  the  most  artistic  poets,  but  in 
folk-poetry. 

Hiatus  appeared  especially  harsh  when  in  the  body  of  a 
word  the  first  of  the  two  vowels  was  long.  This  was  quite 
frequent  in  Greek,  but  rare  in  Latin  {z'oca/is  ante  vocalem 
brevis).  Hence  as  early  as  Homer,  the  first  vowel  in  olos, 
ijpwos  (Od.  VI.  303)  was  sometimes  shortened,  and  perhaps 
in  Zy']io<i  also.  The  Attic  writers  did  the  same  in  the  case 
of  TToieo)  (for  which  in  colloquial  language  iroiw  was  com- 
mon), TotoiiTos,  etc.,  but  generally  only  in  the  case  of  diph- 
thongs whose  second  letter  was  i.  Thus  for  eto?,  eta,  etov, 
occur  frequently  eos,   los,   in  Latin  ens,  Ins. 

\x\  Latin  the  first  long  vowel  in  combinations  is  regularly 
shortened  ;  e.g.  dxhisco,  proinde,  praeaeutus. 

Li  Latin  of  the  Augustan  age  the  penultimate  vowel  is 
long  in  the  endings  ai,  ei,  ais,  eis  from  nominatives  in  a, 
es,  aius,  -a,  -inn,  eiiis,  -a,  -urn,  as  aiilai,  Gai,  diet,  Mais, 
Circeis,  except  ;r/,  spei,  fidei ;  the  /  is  long  in  f'lo  and  its 
derivatives  except  where  followed  by  er  (Ovid  :  omnia  iain 
/lent,  fieri  quae  posse  negabani),  and  common  (always  long 
in  Phaedrus)  in  genitives  in  ins  except  alius  (contracted 
from  aliins).  The  first  vowel  in  Diana  and  o/ie  is  also 
common. 

Greek  words  when  transferred  to  Latin  retain  their  orig- 
inal quantity.  For  those  ending  in  etos,  etc.,  see  above. 
Afaeotis  Ov.  Trist.  HL   12,   2,  is  a  corrupt  reading. 

Like  vowels,  especially  when  they  have  the  same  quantity, 
are  usually  contracted  into  one  by  the  Attic  writers. 

In  Latin  of  the  Augustan  age  the  combinations  aa,  ce, 
00,  are  not  found,  except  in  the  compound  coorior  (but 
coperio)  ;  somewhat  oftener  ii,  in/,  although  until  the  time 
of   Propertius,   the  genitive    of   substantives   in   ins,   ium   was 


Introductory  Remarks.  91 

always  contracted,  e.g.  fi/i,  coiisili.  Hiatus  was  felt  less 
when  an  //  intervened,  as  incoho,  picliciuio,  niJiil,  mihi, 
although  even  in  these  cases  the  contracted  forms  p7-endo, 
nil,  and   (rare)}')    ;///  occur;  so   always   vcmcns  for  vchemens. 

Compounds  of  iacio,  in  forms  derived  from  the  ])resent, 
were  written  with  one  /,  as  ohicio,  although  a  weak  /  was 
sounded  before  the  /.  In  biiugiis,  qiiadriiiigiis,  7  only  was 
sounded. 

Until  the  time  of  Augustus  ito,  vo  were  written  in  place 
of  ////,  vii,  not  only  at  the  beginning  and  in  the  middle  of 
a  word,  but  also  at  the  end,  e.g.  assidiios,  servom. 

Other  combinations  of  a  and  0  with  a  vowel  did  not 
occur  in  Latin,  except  in  compound  and  proper  names,  as 
coalesco,  Gai,  Grais,  etc.,  while  in  Greek  they  were  not 
uncommon.  Of  more  frequent  occurrence  were  ///,  ///, 
ut,  vt. 

Ea,  ei,  eo,  en,  ia,  ie,  io,  ua,  ue,  no  are  admissible,  no 
matter  whether  the  initial  /  and  //  are  vowels  or  conso- 
nants. In  Greek,  on  the  contrary,  simple  e  before  a  follow- 
ing vowel  produced  an  unpleasant  effect,  as  is  shown  by  the 
frequent  synizesis. 

To  avoid  hiatus  in  the  middle  of  a  word,  the  Attic 
writers  employ  contraction  very  often.  Homer  much  less 
frequently. 

This  contraction,  however,  is  not  rare  in  Latin,  especially 
in  many  forms  of  perfects  in  -vi ;  usually  in  declension  and 
conjugation ;  e.g.  in  the  dative  of  the  fourth  declension  u 
for  ///,  in  the  genitive  and  dative  of  the  fifth  e  for  c/,  but 
also  elsewhere  :  thus  always  desse  dcrrarc,  usually  di,  dis, 
idem,  isdem  for  dei,  deis,  eidein,  eisdein. 


92  Treatment  of  Successive  Vowel  Sounds, 

30.    Synizesis  in  Greek. 

Synizesis  hardly  occurs  in  Greek  except  when  the  first 
vowel  is  e,  since  this  vowel,  being  the  weakest,  most  easily 
combines  with   the   following. 

Synizesis  is  most  acceptable  in  the  arsis,  e.g. :  — 

^/3Dcrea)   ova.   crKijirrpo}. 
)(pv(r£ov   (TKrjTTTpov   e)(ovTa. 

But  it  often  appears  in   the   thesis  :  — 

firjvtv   aeiSe,    Otd,    H-qXrj'idSew  'A^LXrjo<;. 

Cases  where  the  synizesis  unites  two  short  vowels  to 
form  the  thesis,  are  also  allowable,  —  as  in  Be'Aea,  IlT^Aeos. 

Homer  and  Archilochus  employ  synizesis  especially  in 
cases  where  contraction  occurs  in  the  later  writers.  The 
tragedians  went  still  farther,  following  Pindar,  not  only  in 
proper  names,  but  also  in  other  words ;  thus  synizesis 
occurs  in  IlrjXea,  ©t/o-ccos,  'Pc'd,  Kpewv,  frequently  in  ©eo's  and 

its    cases,    ttoAcws,    ao-Tew?,    iKTTvicjv,    ta,    etc. 

Synizesis  appears  especially  in  the  thesis  of  the  first  and 
in  the  third  foot  of  the  Trimeter.  As  the  Greeks  did  not 
know  the  consonantal  t,  synizesis  with  iota  seldom  occurs. 
Thus  in  Homer  we  find  AiyuTTTcus,  'la-Tiaiav,  also  'EwaAiw 
(but  compare  34,  beginning)  and  ttotvo.  for  irorvia,  written 
out.  This  is  rare  and  doubtful  in  the  tragedians,  particularly 
outside  of  the  lyrical  passages. 

The  cases  of  synizesis  in  'Epivuo)v  (Eur.  Iphig.  Taur.  931, 
970,  1456),  Suoiv  (Soph.  Oed.  Rex,  640)  rest  on  corrupt 
readings,  and  also  in  'HX^KTpvuiv-q   (Hes.  Scut  Here.   t6). 


Synizcsis  in  Latin.  93 

31.    Synizesis   in   Latin. 

I.  .-Xs  regards  the  Latin  poets  now  under  consideration, 
tlie  first  thing  to  be  noticed  is  the  change  of  /  to  j  and 
(more  rarely)  //  to  v.  This  usually  occurs  in  words  which 
otherwise  would  not  fit  the  metre.  It  never  occurs  in  iambic 
and  trochaic  verse,  and  very  seldom  in  logaoedic  (Hor.  Odes 
III.  4.  41  ;  6.  6,  consiljum,  principjum).  It  does  not  occur 
when  two  like  consonants  precede.  Hence  in  Verg.  .^n. 
VI.  653,  we  write  curniin.  It  is  not  allowed  in  the  middle 
of  compounds,  and  we  must  always  read  and  write  semesus, 
semanimus,  setnhomo,  not  semiesiis,  etc.  To  avoid  this  synizesis 
the  poets  often  shortened  the  gen.  plural  ''ii/in''  to  "/////,"  e.g. 
moderanttim,  sapicntinii ;  sometimes  they  used  in  the  fourth 
conjugation  -ibain  for  -icbam,  e.g.  loiibant.  The  Greek  words 
Aiax,  Gniius,  Main,  Troia,  had  the  consonantal  /  from  earliest 
times.  In  other  Greek  words  /  and  7/  did  not  become  con- 
sonants, and  hence  we  read  :  loat,  'iambus,  Agaiw,  eiiaiigcliiim, 
and  always  hiliis ;  for  Hor.  IV.   2,   2,  is  a  corrupt  reading. 

This  synizesis,  which  had  already  appeared  in  Ennius, 
occurs  twenty-two  times  in  Vergil,  generally  in  words  which 
would  not  otherwise  fit  into  Hexameter  verse,  as  in  deriva- 
tives of  aries,  and  paries,  though  sometimes  in  others,  as 
flitvjoniin  omnja.  U  is  changed  to  v  only  in  tenvis,  tcnvia, 
genva.  In  Mx\.  I.  2,  Lavinaque  is  to  be  read.  Horace 
has  in  his  hexameters  Nasidjeni,  vindevijator,  vjctis,  Serviljo, 
and  pitvita  twice.     For  his  logaoedic  verse,  see  above. 

Synizesis"  occurs  only  twice  in  Ovid:  Metam.  VII.  151; 
XV.  7i<S,  arjetis ;  Antjiim.  XV.  709  does  not  belong  in  this 
category,  as  the  antepenultimate  in  promunturiiim  is  short. 
In  Propertius  there  are  three  cases  of  synizesis  (in  abjcgnac, 
abjegni),  but  none  in  Tibullus. 


94  Treatment  of  Siieeessive   Wnvel  Sounds. 

Fortuitiis  and  coiiubiuiii  never  suffered  synizesis,  as  /  in 
the  first  word  and  a  in  the  second  were  common.  Etlain 
and  quo  Ilia  III  have  always  vocahc   /. 

II.  The  second  kind  of  Synizesis  consists  in  the  forma- 
tion of  a  diphthong  from  two  vowels.  In  the  Augustan 
poets  this  occurs  always  (except  in  proper  names)  in  dis- 
syllabic or  compound  words.  The  diphthongs  thus  produced 
do  not  occur  separately  elsewhere  in  Latin.  In  prose  of  the 
best  period  dein,  delude,  deiiieeps,  neuter,  a/i,  /luic,  have 
always  the  diphthong ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  Romans  pro- 
nounced  uutiquani  and   autire. 

Dehiuc,  however,  is  generally  dissyllabic,  monosyllabic 
rarely  in  Vergil,  and  once  only  in  Ovid  and  Propertius. 
In  Hor.  Sat.  II.  3,  91  quoad  is  a  monosyllable,  and 
perhaps  prout  in  II.  6,  67.  Reieere  is  trisyllabic  in  Verg. 
Buc.  3,  96  (as  euius  is  monosyllabic  in  the  Elegia  ad  Mer- 
sallam,  35),  and  dcicere  in  Hor.  Sat.  I.  6,  39.  Finally,  the 
vocatives  Poinpci  (Hor.  Od.  II.  7,  5)  and  Vultei  (Ep.  I.  7, 
31)  are  dissyllabic,  and  ei  is  probably  to  be  pronounced 
as  »?. 

Compounds  of  eiiruin  never  suffer  synizesis,  but  lose  the 
iu,  e.g.  eireuco,  eireuago,  or  are  divided  by  Tmesis,  e.g. 
eiiruui  errant,  ALi\.  II.  599. 

In  (ireek  words  the  diphthong  m  remains,  as  in  Harpyia ; 
also  £11,  e.g.  Orpheus.  Only  in  the  Culex  117,  269,  and  in 
Phtedrus  V.  i,  i  do  we  find  Orpheus,  Phalareus.  Ei  in 
the  genitive  and  (Eclog.  4,  57  ;  ^'n.  V.  184)  in  the  dative 
is  diphthongal,  and  is  so  pronounced  even  in  prose. 

This  synizesis  (proper  names  excepted)  is  much  more 
frequent  in  Plautus,  who  changes  thereby  words  of  three 
and  more  syllables  when  they  are  derived  from  dissyllables, 
as  suoruiii,  piiella,  eamus,  duellatores. 


Dicercsis.  95 

III.  The  third  kmd  of  Synizesis,  borrowed  from  the 
Greeks,  occurs  in  the  two  last  syllables  of  Greek  proper 
names  in  eu's,  the  substantives  alveus  and  balteus,  and 
adjectives  in  eus,  ea,  eu/n,  denoting  material.  It  appears 
first  in  CatuUus,  and  is  employed  only  in  dactylic  metres, 
especially  in  the  first  and  sixth  foot  of  the  Hexameter,  and 
almost  always  in  such  a  way  that  the  last  syllable  is  long. 
Vergil  is  fond  of  employing  this  form  of  synizesis  as  well 
as  the  others  to  express  what  is  hard  or  dreadful,  as  ^-En. 
VI.   280:  — 

fer;v/que   Eumenidum  thalami  et  Discordia  demens. 

Vergil  has  it  twenty-one  times,  in  proper  names  and 
elsewhere ;  Ovid  has  it  fourteen  times ;  Horace,  Sat.  I.  8, 
43;  II.  2,  21,  cerca,  ostrea ;  Propertius,  Euipeo,  Nerco, 
Prometheo ;   TibuUus,  alveo. 

The  genitive  of  words  in  ei's  has  been  discussed  above. 
In  the  Georgics,  IV.  34,  alvea?'ia  occurs  with  four  syllables, 
where  some  write  alvaria.  Dissyllabic  Penei,  Georg.  IV. 
355)  points  to  the  nom.  riTyved?,  as  'AA<^eos  beside  'AA</)«os. 
Wherever  adjectives  have  a  shorter  form  this  is  employed 
to  avoid  synizesis,  as  aheniis,  chitrnus,  ilignus. 

32.    Diceresis. 

Diaeresis  is  the  division  of  a  diphthong  into  two  syllables. 
In  most  of  the  cases  in  Homer  where  diaeresis  was 
formerly  assumed  it  is  now  plain  that  the  older  form 
of  the  word  appears.  Thus  patronymics  in  -€l8i]<;,  like 
Tlr]XeL8r]^,  in  which  in  Homer  and  Hesiod  e  was  always 
separated  from  t,  come  from  -e^tSr/?  ;  so  I7  from  ear],  eu  from 
i(TV,  AvKoopyos  from  AvK6popyo<;,  etSuia  from  fefiBxKa.  In 
Latin   we   find  siluac  with   change   of  the   //,  in  Hor.  Od.   I. 


96  Treatment  of  Successive  Vowel  Sounds. 

23,  4 ;  Ep.  13,  2  ;  in  the  Satires  cind  in  Phgedrus  suetus, 
suesco ;  in  Ovid  and  Tibullus  soluo  and  voliio,  but  only  in 
compounds ;   in  Propertius    Veins. 

33.    Elision. 

General  Remarks.  —  The  meeting  of  two  vowels  at  the 
end  and  beginning  of  two  words  appeared  to  the  classic 
poets  much  less  admissible  than  hiatus  in  the  middle  of  the 
word.  Latin  words  ending  in  ;;/  were  considered  as  ending 
in  a  vowel,  and  those  beginning  with  h  were  regarded  as 
vocalic  also. 

Hiatus  was  considered  especially  harsh  in  the  case  of 
short  final  syllables  or  those  ending  in  vi,  as  these  were 
spoken  more  rapidly  than  the  long.  Among  the  short  finals, 
e  and  o  in  Greek,  and  e  and  /  in  Latin,  had  a  particularly 
weak  sound. 

The  meeting  of  two  like  vowels  was  especially  dis- 
agreeable. 

To  avoid  hiatus,  Elision  of  the  final  vowel  was  employed. 
This  is  a  false  name,  for  the  final  vowel  except  in  que,  ve, 
lie,  and  the  monosyllabic  particles  in  €,  as  re,  ye,  8e,  was 
never  coinpletely  dropped,  but  when  a  long  syllable  followed 
or  was  demanded  by  the  metre,  the  final  was  combined 
with  the  succeeding  vowel  into  a  kind  of  diphthong.  If 
the  following  vowel  was  short,  the  final  was  so  weakened  by 
rapid  utterance,  that  it  was  not  considered  from  a  metrical 
point  of  view.  This  last  kind  of  elision  was  regarded  as 
the  harsher.  Li  Greek,  the  later  writers  usually  drop  those 
final  vowels  which  are  not  counted  metrically,  and  mark 
their  omission  by  the  apostrophe,  e.g.  ovXo/xcvtjv,  rj  yivpC 
'AxMoU.  This  is  faulty  in  so  far  as  it  makes  no  distinction 
JDetween  the  two  different  kinds  of  elision  just  described. 


Elision  in  Greek.  g/ 

In  the  discussion  of  Elision  and  Hiatus,  Greek  and 
Latin  usages  must  be  sharply  distinguished. 

34.    Elision   in   Greek.      Crasis.      Aphaeresis. 

In  Greek  the  combination  of  a  long  vowel  or  one  that  is 
not  otherwise  elided,  with  a  following  long  vowel,  is  of 
comparatively   rare    occurrence,    but   when   it   does    occur   it 

is   usually    when    the    words    Kat',    8r/,    /xt/,    tS,  rj,   rj,    cyw,   ixoi,   a-oi, 

TOL,   irpo,    o,    a,    come    first,   or  apa,   av,   ov,   follow,  as  e.g.  in 
Homer  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse  :  — 

■»  >  3.1. 

7}  ovK  atets- 
In  Homer,  also,  the  following  cases  are  to  be  noted  :  — 

Od.    I.    226,  dXaivivq   rjk   ydfxo^  ; 

II.  XVIII.   458,  'I'tEt   e/Aw   wKVfxopo) ; 

perhaps,    too,    II.  651,      'EvuaAtw   avSpeic^ovrr^  ; 
and   I.   277,  fJiT^T€  crv,  HrjXelSrj,  eOeX'. 

This  union  of  two  vowels  was  expressed,  frequently  by 
the  Attic  writers,  rarely  by  Homer,  in  the  writing  itself  by 
means  of  Crasis,  principally  when  the  article  or  one  of  the 
short  words  w,  o,  a,  Kat,  -n-po,  p.01,  (Tot,  TOL,  came  first,  as  e.g. 
ovv€Ka,  TavSpi,  TuAAa,  etc.  It  can  also  be  counted  a  case 
of  crasis  when  c  or  (seldom)  a  at  the  beginning  of  a  word 
is  elided  (aphseresis)  if  a  long  vowel  precedes,  e.g.  e^eAai 
'k  t^s  oiKtas.  This  happens  principally  with  the  augment, 
single  prepositions,  adverbs,  conjunctions,  or  other  very 
common  words,  like  eyw,  ia-riv,  earoi,  lo-rat,  as  well  as  dvd 
and  aTTo,  especially  in  the  Attic  poets,  who  employ  crasis 
and  aphffiresis  usually  in  dialogue. 

a,  e,  o,  are  cut  out  of  the  verse  without  hesitation, 
although    the    optative    ending    ete,    the    imperative    18/,    and 


98  Trcatuioit  of  Successive  ]'\nvel  Sounds. 

the  genitive  010,  are  not  thus    ehded.     Further,  i  was    ehded 

in    the    verb-endings    o-t,   fxi,   6l,  tl  ;    in   Homer   the   t   of  the 

dative  plural,   and  rarely  that    of   the   singular,   as   (II.  V.  5  ; 

X.   277):- 

dcrrep    oirMpLvw    ei/aXtyKtos, 

p^at/3€   ok   Tw   opviO'   'OSvcrews. 

In  the  same  way  Ol  in  o6t,  aXXo$i,  avToOi,  TrjXoOi.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  6Vt  is  elided  in  Homer,  for  in  such  cases 
Bekker  writes  ore.     Short  v  is  never  elided. 

Again  ai  (which  very  early  appears  to  have  suffered  a 
weakening  of  the  diphthongal  sound  in  many  forms,  and 
sounded  to  the  Greeks  of  the  latest  period  always  as  short 
e)  was  elided  in  the  forms  of  the  Passive  and  Infinitive,  as 
fSoyXo/xai,  Sovnu.  Once  ai  in  the  nominative  plural  is  elided, 
II.  XI.  272,  o^et'  oSwat.  The  elision  of  ot  in  fxoL,  aoi,  toL  as 
II.  I.  170,  ovhi  0-'  otco ;  VI.  165,  o?  /u,  W^Xtv,  is  very  rare  and 
questionable. 

35.    Elision   in   Latin. 

Compare  first  the  general  remarks  on  Elision,  33.  The 
means  which  the  Romans  employed  to  avoid  hiatus  were 
exactly  the  same  as  those  of  the  Greeks.  The  harsher 
character  of  the  Latin  language  was  shown  by  this  fact, 
that  in  general  no  account  was  taken  in  the  metre  of  a 
final  vowel  occurring  in  the  hiatus,  whether  long  or  short. 
Compare  for  Elision  in  Latin,  Cic.  Orator,  44,  150;  45,  152; 
Quint.  IX.  4,  33. 

As  would  be  expected,  the  harshest  form  of  elision  was 
that  of  long  vowels,  particularly  of  the  diphthong  ac ;  less 
harsh  was  the  elision  of  syllables  ending  in  ;//,  which  were 
pronounced  short,  but  in  which  the  closing  consonant  still 
kept    some    sound ;    easiest    of   all    was    the    elision    of  short 


Elision  in  Latin.  99 

syllables.  Elision  was  harsher  in  the  cases  where  the  second 
vowel  was  short  than  where  it  was  long,  as  has  been  already 
remarked. 

In  the  ^■Eneid  I.  1-80  there  are  twenty-one  cases  of  the 
elision  of  short  vowels  (among  them  fourteen  cases  of  que, 
ne),  twelve  cases  of  the  elision  of  syllables  ending  in  iii, 
and  eight  of  long  vowels,  one  of  the  diphthong  ae. 

The  elision  of  a  vowel  preceded  by  a  vowel  without  a 
consonant  {7'ocalis  piira)  seldom  occurs  if  the  first  vowel 
is  long,  as  ^-En.  X.   179,  Alpiieae  ab  origine. 

The  best  poets  seldom  elide  Greek  endings,  as  in  Ino, 
Penelope  (Ovid  never). 

As  regards  the  compass  of  the  word,  elision  seems  most 
harsh  in  monosyllables  which  are  long  or  end  in  m,  and 
these  were  never  elided  if  they  belonged  to  a  regular 
declension  or  conjugation,  except  qi/i  (nom.  sing.),  ;ne,  te, 
dc,  til,  mi  (^milii),  sum. 

Further,  since  by  the  laws  of  Latin  accent,  the  final 
vowel  was  less  emphatically  pronounced  in  words  with 
spondaic,  trochaic,  or  tribrachic  endings,  than  in  those  with 
cretic,  dactylic,  iambic,  and  pyrrhic  endings,  the  former 
class  of  words  suffer  elision  more  frequently. 

Again,  elision  is  considered  harsher  when  the  second 
syllable  has  the  acute  or  circumflex  accent,  than  when  it 
has  the  grave  or  none  at  all. 

Monosyllabic  pronouns  (except  the  interrogative  quis, 
qui),  prepositions,  conjunctions,  atque  when  the  e  is  elided, 
and  the  most  common  monosyllabic  adverbs,  like  itii,  ut, 
haud,  have  the  grave  accent. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
best  poets  never  elide  iambic  words  before  acute,  circum- 
flex, or  short  syllables  (except  twice  in  Phaedrus,  III.  7,  15  ; 


lOO  Treatment  of  Sueeessive  Voivel  Sounds. 

V.  9,  4,  veni  ergo;  tace  inqitii),  and  cretic  words  almost 
never.  Of  the  poets  considered  here,  Horace  alone  in  the 
Satires  allows  the  elision  of  cretic  words  before  followinsf 
short  syllables. 

Dactylic  or  pyrrhic  words  ending  in  w,  a,  o,  are  treated 
in  the  same  way,   though  somewhat  less  strictly. 

In  the  oldest  Roman  poets,  Plautus,  Terence,  and  some- 
times in  Lucilius,  there  are  many,  and  often  harsh  cases  of 
elision,  remarkably  few  in  the  Annals  of  Ennius  ;  in  Vergil 
a  considerable  number,  but  rarely  of  a  harsh  character.  In 
the  Satires  Horace  has  more  and  harsher  cases  of  elision 
than  in  the  Epistles ;  still  fewer  in  the  Odes  and  Epodes. 
In  Propertius  the  cases  of  elision  are  more  numerous  and 
harsher  than  in  Tibullus.  The  most  polished  of  the  poets 
in  this  respect  was  Ovid,  and  the  later  writers  for  the  most 
part  followed  his  example.  To  illustrate  this,  in  the  first 
book  of  the  Metamorphoses,  which  as  epic  poetry  contains 
an  especially  large  number  of  cases  of  elision,  long  sylla- 
bles are  elided  only  8  times  ;  syllables  ending  in  ;;/,  23  times  ; 
short  syllables,  129  times.  On  the  other  hand,  the  corre- 
sponding numbers  in  the  first   book  of   the  JEntid  are   85, 

97>  173- 

In  general,  elision  is  most  frequent  in  the  epic  hexam- 
eter, and  less  frequent  in  the  didactic,  bucolic,  and  elegiac 
pentameter,  and  in  the  logaoedic  and  iambic  verse  of 
Horace. 

Vergil  frequently  employs  numerous  or  harsh  elisions  in 
the  painting  of  difficult  or  fearful  situations  (^n.  III.  658; 
IX.  427):- 

■monsXriwi  horrend^w  inform*?  ingens. 

non  vie !  adsum  qui  fee/;    in  me  convertite  ferrum. 


D iff c voices  ill  Elision.  lOi 

Those  cases  do  not  properly  belong  to  elision  where  est 
(sometimes  also  cs^  stands  after  a  vowel  or  ;;/.  In  this 
case  est  (^es)  loses  its  vowel,  and  we  read  tnagmnnst,  illast, 
ille's. 

36.    Differences  in  Elision  in  Greek  and  Latin  Verse. 

For  Greeks  and  Romans  alike  this  rule  holds  good,  that 
elision  very  seldom  occurs  before  the  first  or  after  the  last, 
or  the  next  to  the  last  syllable  of  the  verse. 

EHsion  after  the  last  syllable  occurs  properly  only  in 
verses  which  are  united  by  Synapheia,  as  in  anapaestic 
systems. 

In  such  verses  in  Greek  elision  is  tolerably  frequent,  and 
even  a  few  times  in  the  Odes  of  Horace  (in  Horace  the 
preceding  syllable  is  always  long,  and  the  elision  never 
occurs   at  the  end  of  the   strophe). 

The  Alexandrian  poets,  and  imitating  them  the  Romans, 
falsely  explaining  some  Homeric  verses,  occasionally  (very 
seldom  except  in  Vergil)  allow  ehsion  at  the  end  of  a 
hexameter.  The  Romans  do  this  only  when  another  hexam- 
eter follows.  Such  exceptional  verses  are  wrongly  called 
hypermetrical  {versus  hypermetri).  The  preceding  syllable 
is  always  long. 

With  the  exception  of  two  verses  in  Vergil  ending  in  m, 
e  is  the  only  vowel  thus  elided,  especially  in  que.  Vergil 
sometimes  employs  such  a  verse-ending  in  rhythmical  paint- 
ing, as  /En.  VI.   602,   3   (cf  also  IV.  629,  30)  :  — 

quos  super  ntra  silcx  iam  iam  lapsura  cadenti./?/^ 
imminet  adsimilis. 

In  Sophocles,  but  not  in  ^schylus  and  Euripides,  elision 
sometimes  occurs    at   the    end    of  the    trimeter,    generally   if 


102  Treatment  of  Successive  Vowel  Sounds. 

Bi  or  re  stands    at   the    end ;  always  with  a  preceding   long 
syllable,  e.g.  Oed.  Rex  29  ff.  :  — 

v(j>    ov   KtvovTai   owfjia   KaS/xeiov,   jxiXa'i   S' 
"AiSt/s   o-revay/Aots   kol  ydois  TrXouTt'^erat. 

Elision  before  the  last  syllable  of  the  verse  occurs  in 
Horace's  Satires  and  Epistles,  as  well  as  in  the  Odes  the 
verses  of  which  can  be  united  by  Synapheia,  but  not  at  the 
end  of  the  strophe. 

Of  the  other  poets  considered  here  Vergil  alone  twice 
elides  at(ji/e  after  the  sixth  thesis   (^n.  IX.  57;    440). 

The  Greeks  not  infrequently  placed  monosyllables  with  a 
following  ov  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse,  as  Od.  I.  29S  :  — 

T]   ovK   diets  ; 

Elision  occurs  at  the  beginning  of  a  hexameter  several 
times  in  the  Satires  of  Horace,  once  (3,  48)  in  the  Eclogues 
of  Vergil,  but  never  in  the  other  poets.  Of  course  no  account 
is  made  here  of  those  cases  where  a  so-called  hypermetric 
verse  precedes. 

On  the  other  hand,  elision  is  never  prevented  by  a 
following  or  preceding  caesura  or  by  punctuation  or  even 
by  a  change  of  the  persons  speaking,  e.g.  {JEn.  I.  96  ;  II. 
I.  2  ;  Hippol.  612  ;  ^En.  III.  98  ;  Soph.  El.  1502)  :  — 

contigit  oppete;-(? !   o  Danaum  fortissime  gentis ! 
ovXofXiVTjv,   ■^   /xvpL    'AT^atots   aXye'   eOrjKev. 
7}   yX(h(T(T    o/xfo/xoK   :    aXX     o    vov<i   avw/Aaros. 
et  nati  nator/tw  et  qui  nascentur  alj  illis. 
(3dXX'  alei   8e    in^pai   veKvo)v  kcuovto   Oa/xtiaL 
Orest.   dXX'   €p4>'-      /Egisth.    v(f>r)yov.        Or.    a-ol   /SaStoreov   irdpo^. 


Hiatus.  103 

The  better  poets,  however,  Hke  Tibullus  and  Ovid,  avoid 
eliding,  in  general,  a  long  syllable  in  the  third  arsis  or 
where  there  is  a  decided  stop.  They  also  elide  very  rarely 
a  long  syllable  at  the  caesura. 

The  greatest  freedom  and  frequency  of  elision  in  the 
Latin  Hexameter  is  noticed  in  the  arsis  of  the  first, 
the  thesis  of  the  second,  and  also  in  the  whole  of  the 
fourth  foot,  except  when  the  Hephthemimeral  Caesura 
occurs.  In  the  other  places  elision  is  far  less  frequent, 
especially  in  the  arsis  of  the  second  and  the  thesis  of  the 
sixth. 

In  the  Pentameter  the  elision  of  syllables  which  are  either 
long  or  end  in  w,  is  in  the  best  poets  mostly  restricted  to 
the  first  arsis  or  the  second  thesis.  Elision  at  the  csesural 
pause  does  not  occur  in  Propertius,  Tibullus,  and  Ovid ; 
never  after  the  caesura  in  Ovid,  and  almost  never  in  Pro- 
pertius and  Tibullus.  In  the  second  half  of  the  Pentameter 
Ovid  never  elides  long  syllables  or  those  ending  in  m. 
Horace  allows  elision  not  infrequently  before  and  after  the 
caesura  of  the  lyric  measures,  except  in  the  Sapphic  Hendeca- 
syllabic,  where  it  almost  never  occurs. 

37.    Hiatus. 

General  Remarks.  —  When  a  vowel  at  the  end  of  a  word 
remains  unchanged  before  a  following  vowel.  Hiatus  is 
occasioned.  The  harshest  case  of  this  is  when  vowels 
having  the  same  sound  come  together,  as  Od.  XI.  596, 
Aaav  avco  w^ecrKe.  On  the  Other  hand,  hiatus  is  most 
allowable  where  the  elision  of  the  final  syllable  would  be 
harsh. 


104         Treatment  of  Successive  Vowel  Sounds. 

38.    Hiatus   in   Greek. 

When  a  long  final  syllable  occurs  in  the  thesis  of  a 
dactylic  measure,  hiatus  with  the  following  vowel  is 
allowed,  e.g. :  — 

fjirjvLv  aetSe   6td,    HrjXrjidS  c  <a  'A^lXtjos. 

So,  too,  in  the  arsis  when  the  long  vowel  is  shortened :  — 

avSpa  jJiOL   tweire,    M.ovaa,   TvoXvTpoivov. 

Hiatus  also  occurs  with  short  vowels,  especially  such  as 
are  seldom  or  never  elided,  as  with  v  and  i  in  the  dative 
singular,   in  the  genitive   oio,  in  rt,  Trept,  6',  dvd  =  dvaa-T-qOL. 

It  is  very  rare  in  the  thesis,  and  only  admissible  in  the 
regular  Penthemimeral  and  Hephthemimeral  Caesura,  as  II. 
11.   781;   V.  576;   VIII.  556;  XXIV.  285. 

An  unpleasant  effect  is  produced  if  the  long  vowel  of  the 
arsis  remains  long,  as  sometimes  is  the  case  in  the  first  and 
fourth  foot  of  the  hexameter,  and  especially  with  mono- 
syllables, as  e.g. :  — 

Kovprj    iKaptoLo,    TrepicfipMv  TlrjveXoTreLa. 

^Xaivav   T     rjoe   ^j^trcova   ra  t   ai8a>   a.fJi(}}LKaXvTrT€t. 

rj    )^L6vi   \jjv^p(2   rj  e^  vSaros    KpvardXXi^. 

Hiatus  of  short  syllables  is  most  harsh  in  the  case  of  a 
final  £  in  monosyllabic  and  trochaic  words,  and  least  harsh 
in  dactylic  words.  In  these  last,  hiatus  occurs  most  fre- 
quently in  the  first  and  fourth  foot  (bucolic  caesura).  Again, 
hiatus  is  sometimes  allowed  on  account  of  the  to/a^  Kara 
TptTov  rpo-)(alov,   as  e.g.  :  — 

dXA'    aKeoDua   KaOrjcro,    ifiiS  o    iTrnreLoeo  p.vd(a. 

Punctuation  also  relieves  the  harshness  of  hiatus  in  a 
similar   way.     Of  course    those    cases   in    Homer   where    the 


Hiatus  in  Greek.  105 

following  word  has  the  digamma,  or  in  earliest  times  began 
with  a  consonant,  have  nothing  to  do  with  hiatus,  as  e.g.:  — 

aT€fji.fj.aT    exwv  iv  X^P^'  fi.KTjl3oXov    AttoAAwvos. 

So    e.g.    aAts  =  saf/s,    eSos  =  se^/es,    l^  =  sex,     cVo/xat  =  sequor, 
Q^  =  S////S.      Cf.  e.g.  0.1.  XVII.   303  :    SL-vryo-aro   olo  avaKTOs. 

Cases  of  hiatus  in  Homer  and  Hesiod,  which  are  not 
comprehended  under  the  rules  already  mentioned,  rest 
either  on  a  corrupt  text  or  are  to  be  explained  by  old 
forms  of  the  words  now  unknown,  but  which  removed  the 
supposed  hiatus. 

Homer  was  the  model  of  the  later  epic  poets,  who 
through  misunderstanding  introduced  hiatus  in  places  where 
in  Homer's  time  none  existed  because  of  the  digamma. 
But  hiatus  occurred  in  this  epic  poetry  less  frequently 
than  in  Homer,  and  still  less  often  in  the  bucolic  and 
didactic  poets. 

In  the  fifth  century  after  Christ  Nonnus  and  his  imitators 
restricted  hiatus  to  a  few  cases  with  long  final  syllable. 

Hiatus  occurs  more  rarely  in  the  elegiac  hexameter,  and 
still  more  so  in  the  pentameter,  where  it  appears  usually 
in  the  first  foot  and  the  first  dactyl  after  the  caesura.  At 
the  caesura  it  is  doubtful. 

Cases  of  the  hiatus  of  long  syllables  with  shortening  in 
the  arsis  of  anapaestic  metres  are  not  uncommon. 

In  the  iambic  trimeter  and  trochaic  tetrameter  of  tragedy 
hiatus  very  seldom  occurs  in  the  thesis,  and  then  before 
a  stop,  or  where  the  same  word  is  repeated,  as  /Esch. 
Agam.  1 2 1 6  :  — 

OTOTOL,   AvKU    "AttoWov,    01   cyw,    iyui. 

Such  examples  stand  mostly  by  themselves,  outside  of 
the  verse.      Hiatus  is  not  allowed  in  the  arsis. 


io6  Treatment  of  Successive  Vozvel  Sounds. 

39.    Hiatus   in   Latin. 

Compare  the  general  remarks  in  37. 

Hiatus  occurs  extremely  seldom  in  the  Roman  dactylic 
poets,  especially  in  the  arsis  of  the  foot.  In  Vergil,  the 
hiatus  of  a  short  final  syllable  occurs  only  twice.  Eel.  II.  53  ; 
^n.   I.   405  :  — 

addam  cerea  pru«r7.     honos  erit  huic   quoque  pomo. 
et  vera  incessu  patuit  de^?.     ille  ubi  matrem,  — 

in  each  case  before  a  decided  stop. 

Long  monosyllabic  words  or  those  ending  in  w  allow 
hiatus  in  the  arsis  if  a  short  syllable  follows;  as  once  in 
the  Satires  of  Horace  :  — 

si  me  amas  inquit;    cocto  num  adest  honor  idem? 

This  kind  of  hiatus  is  very  common  in  Plautus  and 
Terence,  but  generally  in  cases  where  these  small  words 
form  the  first  syllables  of  resolved  iambic  or  trochaic 
theses.  The  first  kind  of  hiatus  occurs  sometimes  in 
Vergil,  e.g.  Mn.  VI.  507:  — 

te,   amice,   nequivi. 

Elsewhere  iambic  or  cretic  words  are  sometimes  short- 
ened in  the  arsis  (as  Ennius  had  already  done),  e.g.  in 
Vergil   (Eel.   3,   79;  M\\.   III.   211)  :  — 

et  longum   formose  vale  val^   inquit  lolla. 
insul«d"  loiiio  in  magno. 

This  hiatus  occurs  sometimes  in  Vergil ;  in  Propertius 
once,  IV.  II,  17;  in  Ovid  three  times,  Am.  II.  13,  21;   Met. 

I.  155  ;    III.   501  ;    the   conjectural   reading   in    Horace    Ep. 

II.  3,   65,  din  aptaque  reinis,  is  incorrect. 

Spondaic  words  at  the  hiatus  occur  only  in  Horace  Ep.  5. 
100  (probably  a  corrupt  reading)  and  Vergil,  Georg.  I.  437  :  — 


Hiatus  in  Latin.  107 

et  Esquilin^fi?  alites. 

Glauco  et  Panopea^  et  Inoo  Melicertae. 

In  this  verse  in  imitation  of  Euphorion,  the  spondaic  word 
of  the  first  foot  is  preserved  unshortened  with  the  hiatus. 

In  the  poets  considered  here  hiatus  in  the  arsis,  except 
in  Hor.  Ep.  5,  100,  and  hiatus  in  the  thesis,  except  in  the 
dactyhc  tetrameter  ossibus  et  capiti  inhumato,  Hor.  Odes 
I.  28,  occur  only  in  hexameter  verse.  The  final  syllable  is 
always  long,  except  in  three  cases,  Tibullus  I.  5,  2)Z  \  Prop. 
III.  15,  i;  T^2,  45,  where  the  syllable  ends  in  in;  and  this 
syllable  is  always  the  final  of  a  polysyllabic  word  except  in 
Verg.  xEn.  IV.  235  :  — 

quid  struit  aut  qua  spe  inimica  in  gente  moratur. 

Most  poets  allow  hiatus  only  in  the  regular  cresuras  of 
the  hexameter  or  before  Greek  words,  e.g. :  — 

Nereidum  matr/  et  Neptu«o  Aegaeo. 

Vergil,  however,  in  imitation  of  Ennius,  sometimes  allows 
hiatus  at  other  points  in  the  verse,  at  the  end  of  words 
having  an  anapaestic  ending  or  before  a  stop:  — 

evolat  infelix  et  feminet;  ululatu. 

si  perec,  hominum  manibus  periisse  juvabit. 

He  allows  this  hiatus  in  the  thesis  perhaps  forty  times ; 
Ovid  has  it  only  twenty-six  times;  Horace  once  (Ep.  13,  3) 
besides  the  example  quoted  above. 

Finally,  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  interjections  0  and  a, 
both  in  thesis  and  arsis,  before  long  and  short  vowels,  can 
be  kept  long  by  the  poets,  e.g. :  — 

0  et  de  Latia,  o  ct  de  gente  Sabina  ;    o  ego  laeviis  ; 

but  not  heu,  which  never  occurs  in  a  hiatus  {eheu  is  always 
to  be  read  instead  of  /leu  heit). 


EIGHTH    SECTION. 


-0-0>»iOO- 


LENGTHENING    BY   POSITION. 
40.    General   Remarks. 

A  SHORT  vowel  followed  by  two  or  more  consonants  or  by 
^,  ^,  ip,  was  usually  considered  long,  although  in  most  cases 
it  was  pronounced  as  short. 

A  short  vowel  was  always  regarded  as  long,  when  it  was 
followed  in  the  sa/ne  wo#:l  by  two  or  more  consonants, 
except  a  mute  and  a  liquid ;  c.i;^.  rifxvw,  Eupucr^evs,  e/^Ae'yw, 
omnis,  aspicio,  adliio. 

41.    Greek. 

Generally  in  Homer  a  short  vowel  is  lengthened  before  a 
mute  and  a  liquid,  whether  these  occur  in  the  same  word 
or  at  the  beginning  of  the  following.  Only  if  the  second 
vowel  is  A.  or  p  (except  |SA,  yA,  8A),  a  final  vowel  sometimes, 
and  a  medial  vowel  less  often,  remains  short. 

Hence  the  reading  in  II.  XVI.  857,  Xiirovcr  avSpoTrJTa  kuI 
yj^rjv,  is  wholly  corrupt  and  long  since  rejected. 

Homer's  example  was  followed  by  the  older  epic  poets, 
and  the  iambic  writers  like  Archilochus. 

On    the    other    hand,   in    the    Old    Comedy,    only    ^A,    yA 
usually,    and    y/x,    yv,    S/x,    Sv    always,    lengthen   a   preceding 
short    vowel     {correptio    Attica).      The    tragedians    conform 
more  to  the  example  of  Homer. 
108 


Latin.  109 

Consonants,  not  mutes  and  licjuids,  always  render  the 
preceding  vowel  long,  although  Homer  shortens  final  syllables 

preceding   the    words   a-Keirapvov,    SKa/^avSpos,    ZolkwOo?,    ZcAeta, 

as  otherwise  these  would  not  fit  the  metre. 

42.   Latin. 

Plautus  and  Terence  did  not  recognize  the  lengthening  of 
a  preceding  short  vowel  by  a  following  mute  and  liquid 
except  gm  and  g/i,  and  usually  in  other  cases,  especially  in 
dissyllables,  e.g.  Vie,  ute,  vnmo,  esse,  ferentarius,  disregarded 
the  rules  of  position. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  dactylic  poets  followed  the  Greek 
system  in  the  middle  of  a  word  at  least,  although  a  mute 
and  liquid  exercised  a  lengthening  force  on  the  preceding 
short  less  frequently  than  in  Homer.  Hence  many  com- 
binations of  consonants,  which  appear  frequently  in  (Ireek, 
are  quite  foreign  to  the  Latin  language. 

Cycmis  is  always  written  with  a  short  y  ;  in  latrare  the  a  is 
long  by  nature. 

A  final  short  vowel  remains  short  when  followed  by  a 
mute  and  liquid  except  gn. 

Hence  after  a  preceding  short  final  vowel  we  must  write 
Cnosi/s,   Cnidiis,  narits,  natits,  nariis,  instead  of  Gnosiis,  etc. 

Short  final  syllables  before  other  combinations  of  con- 
sonants appear  usually  only  in  those  cases  where  syllaba 
anceps  is  allowed,  as  in  Horace,  Ep.   17,   26:  — 

levare  tcnt«  spiritu  praccordia. 

The  oldest  Roman  poets  sometimes  permit  a  short  vowel 
to  retain  its  quantity  before  impure  s  (,s-  followed  by  a  con- 
sonant), especially  after  a  dactyl  in  the  first  and  fifth  foot  of 
the  hexameter.     This  usage  is  limited  in  the  Augustan  poets 


no  Lengthening  by  Position. 

to  the  words  Zdcyniliiis,  Scaniaudcr,  smdragdus  {zmarag- 
dus),  with  these  few  exceptions;  in  the  Satires  of  Horace; 
Propertius;  Vergil,  ^n.  XL  309;  Ovid,  Halieutica,  120; 
Phsedrus,  III.  3,   14;   apjD.  9,  12. 

Lengthening  of  a  short  final  syllable  when  the  next  word 
begins  with  two  or  three  consonants,  does  not  occur  in  the 
poets  considered  here,  except  in  Tibullus  I.  5,  18;  6,  34; 
and  in  general  it  is  very  rare. 


NINTH    SECTION. 


-»<»J»io«~ 


HOMERIC    PROSODY. 
43.   Peculiarities  of  Prcsody  in  Homer. 

In  consequence  of  the  mobility  of  the  Ionic  dialect,  in 
Homer's  time  the  quantity  of  many  syllables  might  vary,  or 
at  least  the  lengthening  of  short  syllables  would  be  less 
offensive  to  tlie  ear,  especially  in  words  which  otherwise 
would  fit  the  hexameter  metre  either  with  difficulty  or  not 
at  all,  and  in  words  of  very  frequent  occurrence.  The 
vowels,  a,  L,  V,  show  the  most  frequent  exceptions  to  the 
usual  quantity. 

Thus  the  penult  is  common  in  Homer  in  the  names  of 
the  chief  heroes  of  the  poem,  'A;)(tXevs  and  'OSvo-eus ;  the 
first  syllable  is  often  lengthened    in   avy'ip,  "Aprj?,   'AttoAAwvos, 

etc.,  draAXco,  lAaos,  Tvpiv,  TrtaiVw,  rt'w,  pvofxai,  voutp,  vo)  ', 
always  lengthened  in  d^avaros,  dKdfJ.aTO<;,  diroviovTo,  dyopdaade, 
Stoyeves,  Zecf)vpLr),  7rto/xei/os,  lIpLafXLSr]<;,  Swap-ivoLo,  Ovyaripeaai. 
Sometimes  this  lengthening  is  expressed  in  the  script,  as  in 
rivep.6ei<i  instead  of  dv€p6a<;,  r/v'i  instead  of  cvs,  Aiwvvo-os 
instead  of  AtoVvo-o?.  The  liquids  A,  p.,  v,  p,  also  s  and  occa- 
sionally 7T  and  8,  helped  on  the  lengthening  of  short  vowels, 
because  they  were  easily  doubled  in  pronunciation,  espe- 
cially in  compounds  and  after  the  augment.  Thus  for 
instance  /<aTdAoc/)aSeta.  This  lengthening  is  frequently  ex- 
pressed by  the  doubling  of  the  consonant ;   thus   in  lAAa/Je, 

III 


112  llouwnc  Prosody. 

efxixaOe,  irdwaae,  oTrTrws,  and  also  ill  'A^^tAAeus  and  '08v(Ta-ev<i. 
For  ixiXavi   (II.  XXIV.  79)   another  reading  gives  n-uXavi. 

For  well-known  reasons,  metrical  licenses  not  permitted 
elsewhere  occur  frequently  in  the  first  foot ;  thus  e.g.  Sid 
(II.  III.  357)  ;  often  ineiSr]  as  a  Molossus  ( ). 

Many  cases  of  lengthening  of  short  syllables  are  explained 
by  an  older  form,  as  in  the  first  syllable  of  c(/r)tes,  and  the 

second  in  dTro{f)enruiv.  Thus  the  forms  /3a0vp^:oo<;,  cVvcTre, 
(Tvve^e^,  eSSeio-ev,  came  from  (Scidvapoos,  eva-eire,  o-i;vo-e;(es, 
€8(/r)ao-ev.  In  the  same  way  ea-aeva-a,  <^tAo/A/A€t87^s  point  to 
an  original  €.T(/r)eu,  </)tAoo-/x£i8r;s.  The  long  vowel  in  o^is 
(II.  XII.  208)  allows  the  conjecture  of  an  old  form  ottc^is. 
The  digamma  has  remained  as  a  vowel  in  evaSov  and  avrdp. 
The  later  hexameter  poets  adopted  a  large  number  of 
the  Homeric  lengthenings  already  described,  partly  without 
knowing  the  reason  for  their  existence.  In  some  cases  the 
usual  Homeric  quantity  remained  the  regular  one  in  almost 
all   later    poets,    as    e.g.    in    d^avaro?,    dKa/xaros. 

In  Homer  the  first  syllable  of  kuAo's  and  i'o-os  is  always 
long,  but  in  the  Attic  poets  short. 

In  the  arsis  of  the  foot  a  short  syllable  is  sometimes 
lengthened,  especially  the  vowel  t,  e.g.  in  to-rti;,  ottw/divw, 
vTrepoTrXiaiyjaL,  etc.  On  the  Other  hand,  instead  of  -^vcv  and 
jSXoa-vpwTns  we  have  the  other  readings  yjviv  and  (3Xo<rvp(x)Tn<; 
with  long  finals. 

The  long  vowel  in  the  arsis  of  these  two  verse-beginnings 
TToAAa  Xia-crofxevr]  and  TroAAa  pvard^taKev  has  not  yet  been 
sufficiently  explained ;  in  ttvkvo.  pwyaXerjv  it  is  necessitated 
by  the  older  form  ppwyaXeo?. 

The  shortening  of  long  syllables,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
a  very  doubtful  matter.  In  cjioivLKoeo-aa  the  i  is  not 
shortened,  but  oe  united  by  synizesis.       The  shortening  of  rj 


Peculiarities  of  Prosody  in  Homer.  1 1 3 

and  oj  in  the  Subjunctive,  e.g.  (SovXcrat,  eiSo/Atv,  tofxev,  is  by 
no  means  an  arbitrary  process,  but  based  upon  older 
formations. 

In  general,  many  old  forms  remained  in  the  language  of 
Homer,  which  were  employed  along  with  those  later  forms 
which  were  the  more  usual  at  the  time  when  the  Iliad  and 
Odyssey  were  composed.  This  fact  explains  on  the  one 
hand  the  astonishing  fulness  and  variety  of  Homeric  forms, 
and  on  the  other  their  uncertainty  and  irregularity. 


TENTH    SECTION. 


<x>;4^o« 

LATIN   PROSODY. 
44.    Peculiarities   of  Latin   Prosody. 

In  the  Roman  poets  any  variation  in  the  quantity  of  the 
stem  syllable  is  very  rare,  except  in  some  proper  names. 
It  is  to  be  noticed,  however,  that  in  dactylic  and  logaoedic 
metres  the  first  syllable  is  long  in  irligio,  n'ligiosiis,  reliquiae 
(on  account  of  the  old  form  fed  in  these  words,  originally 
written  rell) ;  in  the  perfects  reperi,  repidi,  retudi,  ?'eiuli, 
and  also  elsewhere  {fecidd)  the  first  syllable  always 
remained  long.  In  iambic  metres  we  find  only  frligio, 
religiosiis,   reliquiae. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Latin  language,  in  a  manner 
corresponding  to  its  barytone  character,  allowed  frequent 
shortening  of  final  syllables. 

While,  for  example,  in  Plautus  not  a  few  endings  which 
afterwards  were  shortened,  of  nouns  and  verbs  in  ;•,  s,  i, 
which  had  a  long  vowel  in  the  genitive  and  in  the  second 
person,  still  appear  as  long,  after  Ennius  in  dactylic  poetry 
these  are  regularly  shortened.  The  long  syllable  remained 
only  in  ///  and  petiit  (to  compensate  for  the  dropped  z'), 
sometimes  in  sanguis  and  pulvis,  and  often  in  the  2d  Pers. 
Sing,  of  the  Perf.  and  Fut.  Perf.  Subj.  Thus  for  example 
Hor.  (IV.  7,  20)  :  — 

quae  dederis  animo. 
114 


Peculiarities  of  Latin  Prosody.  115 

The  first  syllable  of  -imiis,  -ids,  of  these  tenses  is  com- 
mon. Greek  endings  retain  their  original  quantity.  Even 
words  ending  in  a  sometimes  keep  this  quantity,  e.g, 
Andromeda,  Electra. 

Further,  it  was  customary  from  an  early  date  to  shorten 
a  number  of  iambic  words  which  were  especially  common. 
Plautus  and  Terence  carry  this  very  far,  but  in  the  best 
dactylic  poets  it  is  principally  the  following  words  which 
appear  shortened  :  ego,  duo,  here,  bene,  male,  eito,  viodo,  ita, 
quia,  nisi,  quasi.  The  final  is  common  in  ///////,  ///'/,  sibi, 
ibi,  ubi.  Ulnnani  and  ubivis  have  a  short  vowel  ;  ulnque, 
utroblque,  ibidem,  a  long  vowel.  /  is  long  in  utl,  sieutl, 
velut'i,  but  short  in  utinam,  utujue,  nuflquam. 

The  poets  went  still  farther  with  the  ending  0  ;  for  while 
the  older  dactylic  poets  shortened  the  0  only  in  some 
iambic  substantives  and  verbs,  as  homo,  puto,  dabo,  and 
always  in  nescio  quis ;  in  Vergil,  Horace,  TibuUus,  and 
Propertius,  some  cretic  feet  are  also  shortened,  as  Polio, 
dixero;  in  Horace's  Satires  quomodo ;   in  Propertius  yf// ^(5. 

Ovid,  except  in  the  Metamorphoses,  shortens  variously 
cretic  and  also  spondaic  words  (always  Sulmo,  Naso), 
among  them  the  adverb  e?go.  Of  the  poets  of  the  first 
century  after  Christ  many  shorten  the  0  generally  in  sub- 
stantives (except  in  Greek  words  like  Piilo),  in  verbs,  in 
several  adverbs,  and  the  numerals  ambo,  oeto,  and  finally 
(though  very  rarely)  in  tlie  ablative  of  the  Genmd.  The 
o  of  the  interjection  id  is  always  long. 


ELEVENTH    SECTION. 


-00^:^CK>- 


LENGTHENING. 

45.    Lengthening   by   the   Thesis   at   the   End   of   a   Word. 

General  Remarks.  —  A  short  syllable  at  the  end  of  a 
word  coukl  be  lengthened  more  easily  than  one  in  the 
middle  of  the  word,  since  in  the  former  case  a  short  pause 
of  the  voice  naturally  ensues. 

46.    Greek.  ' 

Hence  in  Homer,  the  lengthening  of  short  vowels  occurs 
especially  before  those  liquids  X,  /x,  v,  p,  which  are  easily 
doubled,  and  occasionally,  too,  before  8  and  a,  though  in 
connection  with  this  it  must  be  noticed  that  words  now 
beginning  with  the  former  letters  then  began  quite  fre- 
quently   with    two    consonants  ;    e.g.    fprjyvfXL,    cr/xoipa,    avevpr/, 

The  letter  p  often  has  the  effect  of  lengthening  a  preced- 
ing short  vowel  in  the  dialogue  as  well  as  in  the  lyric  parts 
of  the   Attic   drama. 

A  final  syllable  ending  in  a  consonant  is  also  unhesi- 
tatingly lengthened.  This  happens  generally  in  the  caesura 
or  before  punctuation,  but  rarely  in  the  first  or  sixth 
thesis. 

Cases   where   the   following  word  has   the   digamma,   as   II. 
I.  74,  jaeATToi/res  ptKapepyov,  are  of  course  not  counted  here. 
ii6 


Lengthenmg   by  the   Thesis.  1 1 7 

The  later  epic  poets  before  Nonnus  imitate  Homer  with 
more  or  less  frequency ;  less  often  still  the  didactic  and 
bucolic  poets,  sometimes  without  understanding  the  lin- 
guistic  reasons    for   their   licenses. 

In  lyric  and  dramatic  measures  the  lengthening  of  final 
syllables  is  not  produced  by  the  simple  force  of  the  thesis, 
especially  in  the  iambic  and  trochaic  verses.  In  the  dactylic 
pentameter,  also,  such  lengthening  is  very  rare  and  usually 
doubtful,  even  in  the  first  half  of  the  verse,  and  at  the  caesura 
itself. 

47.    Latin. 

In  this  respect  also  the  Romans  followed  much  stricter 
rules  than  the  Greeks. 

Monosyllables  are  never  lengthened,  nor  short  syllables 
ending  in  a  vowel,  except  that  Vergil  (/En.  III.  464) 
seems  to  have  permitted  gravia.  In  the  same  way  (Ennius 
Ann.  149),  aquilci.  The  enclitic  que  is  sometimes  length- 
ened in  Vergil,  in  imitation  of  Homer,  and  after  him  in 
Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  but  always  when  preceded  by  a 
dactylic  or  spondaic  word,  and  followed  by  a  second  que 
with  the  foot w   or  w  w  _  w,  e.g.  (.-En.  III.  91)  :  — 

limaqw^  laurusque   dei  totus'iue  moveri. 

This  is  allowed  only  when  two  consonants  or  a  double 
consonant,  a  liquid  or  s,  follow.  Elsewhere  Vergil,  in  imita- 
tion of  Ennius,  lengthens  a  final  syllable  (as  in  a  case  of 
hiatus)  not  only  at  the  caesura  and  before  Greek  words, 
but  also  when  three  short  syllables  close  a  word  or  punct- 
uation follows  it.  Thus  we  find  not  only  (Eel.  X.  69 ; 
Georg.  I.  13S):  — 

omnia  vincit  awcr.     ct  nos  cedamus  amori. 
Pleiaa'ai  Hyadas  claramque  Lycaonis  Arcton. 


1 1 8  LoigtJicning. 

But  also  (Georg.  II.  5;    ^'En.  XI.   11 1)  :  — 

muneribus,  tibi  pampineo  gravi(/»j  autumno. 
ora.iis  ?   equidem  et  vivis  concedere  vellem. 

There  are  about  fifty  cases  in  Vergil  of  the  lengthening 
of  final  syllables  ending  in  a  consonant. 

The  other  poets  allow  this  lengthening  only  at  the  regular 
caesura,  or  before  following  Greek  words,  and  all  very 
rarely.  Ovid  ten  times;  Horace  (in  the  logaoedic  measures 
also)  eleven  times  :  Sat.  I.  4,  82  ;  5,  90  ;  II.  i,  82  ;  2,  47  ; 
3,  i;  260;  Odes  I.  3,  36;  13,  6;  II.  6,  14;  III.  16,  26; 
24,  5  ;  TibuUus  four  times  ;   Propertius  three  times. 

This  lengthening  does  not  occur  in  iambic  and  trochaic 
measures. 


INDEX. 


Accius,  25,  26. 
Adonius,  55. 
^schylus,  20. 
Alcseus,  17. 

Alcaic  Decasyllabic,  66. 
Alcaic  Hendecasyllabic,  66. 
Alcaic  Strophe,  68.  . 
Alcman,  19. 
Alexandrians,  23,  24. 
Alfius  Avitus,  34. 
Alliteration,  46. 
Anacreon,  18. 
Anacreontic,  18. 
Anacrusis,  40. 
Ananius,  18. 

Anapaestic  Metres,  55,  56. 
Antiquarian  tendency  in  Roman  Ver- 
sification, 33. 
Antistrophe,  19,  43. 
Aphaeresis,  97. 
Archilochian  Strophe,  70,  71. 
Archilochian  Systems,  72. 
Archilochus,  17. 
Arion,  19. 
Aristophanes,  21. 

Aristophanic,  see  Lesser  Sapphic,  66. 
Arsis,  38. 

Resolution  of,  48,  49. 
Asclepiadean  Strophes,  69,  70. 
Asynartete,  41. 
Ausonius,  35,  66,  67. 
Avienus,  34. 


B. 


Bacchylides,  19. 
Basis,  38,  40. 
Besantinus,  24. 


C. 


Caesura,  5. 

Caesuras  of  the  Hexameter,  51-54. 

Caesuras  of  the  Trimeter,  59,  60. 

Callinus,  16. 

Calvus,  28. 

Cantica,  26. 

Catalectic  Verse,  41. 

Catullus,  28,  29. 

Cha^remon,  23. 

Choral  Lyric,  i8,  19. 

Claudianus,  32. 

Crasis,  97. 


Dactylic  Metres,  50-55. 
Dancing,  24. 

Development   of   Ancient    Versifica- 
tion, 13,  14. 
Diaeresis,  32. 

Dialogue  in  Attic  Drama,  20,  21. 
Dialogue  in  Roman  Drama,  25,  26. 
Dipody,  40. 
Distich,  16,  54,  67. 
Dithyramb,  19. 
Dochmi.ic   Rhythm  in  Attic  Drama, 


22. 


119 


120 


Index. 


Dosiadas,  24. 
Drama,  Attic,  20-23. 
Drama,  Roman,  25-27. 


Elegiambic  Verse,  67. 
Elision,  96,  97. 

in  Greek,  97,  98. 

in  Latin,  98-101. 

variation  in,  101-103. 
Enclisis,  86. 
Ennius,  25-28. 
Epode,  43. 

of  Horace,  71-73. 

in  Doric  Lyric,  19. 

in  Attic  Drama,  21. 
Euphony,  40,  41,  44. 
Euripides,  21. 


Fronto,  33. 


Georgius  Pisides,  34,  35. 
Glyconic  Verse,  64. 
Greater  Archilochian,  66. 
Greater  Asclepiadean,  65. 
Greater  Sapphic,  65. 
Gregorius  Nazianzenus,  34. 

H. 

Hesiod,  15. 
Hexameter,  50-55. 
Hiatus,  103. 

in  Greek,  104,  105. 

in  Latin,  106,  107. 
Hipponactean  Iambics  and  Trochees, 

18,  29. 
Hipponactean  Strophe,  71. 
Hipponax,  17,  18. 
Homer,  15,  16. 
Horace,  30,  31. 
Hymns,  Christian,  34,  35. 
Hypercatalectic  Verse,  41. 
Hypermeter,  101. 


I. 

lambelegiac  Verse,  67. 
Iambic  Metres,  57,  62. 
Iambic  System,  72. 
Ibycus,  19. 
Ictus,  42. 

Ionic  Decameter,  64. 
Ionic  Strophe,  71. 
Ithyphallic  Verse,  63. 


Lrevius,  28. 

Lesser  Asclepiadean,  65. 

Lesser  Sapphic,  66. 

Logaoedic  Metres,  41,  64-66. 

Lucilius,  26-28. 

Lucretius,  28,  29. 

Lyric  Poetry  of  the  ^olians,  17,  18. 

of  the  Dorians,  18,  19. 
Lyrical  Parts  in  Attic  Drama,  20-23. 

M. 

Metre,  37. 

Metrical  Licenses,  74-76. 

Music,  24. 

Myurus,  16. 


Nsevius,  25. 
Nonnus,  23. 


Ovid,  29,  30. 


N. 


O. 


P. 


Pacuvius,  25. 

Peculiarities  of  Prosody   in   Homer, 
111-113. 
in  Latin,  114,  115. 
Pentameter,  16. 
Period,  19,  23,  40. 
PhEEdrus,  26. 
Phalascean  Verse,  18,  28. 
Phcrecratean  Verse,  65. 


Index. 


121 


Pindar,  19. 
Plautus,  25,  26. 
Porfyrius  Optatianus,  33. 
Position,  108,  109. 
Propertius,  30. 
Piudentius,  35. 
Punctuation,  43-46. 
Pythiiambic  System,  72,  73. 


Quantitative  Principle,  13. 

R. 

Rhyme,  46,  47. 
Rhytiim,  37. 
Rhythmical  Poetry,  36. 

Rhythmical   Structure   of  the   Verse, 

77-79- 

of  the  Hexameter  and  Pentam- 
eter, 79-83. 

of  the  Remaining  Metres,  83-85. 
Rutilius  Namatianus,  32. 


Sapphic  Strophe,  68,  69. 

Sapphic  Verse  of  Fifteen  Syllables,  66. 

Sappho,  17,  18. 

Saturnian  Verse,  24,  25. 

Seneca,  32. 

Septimius  Serenus,  33. 

Simmias,  24. 

Simonides,  19. 

Sophocles,  21. 

Sotadic  Verse,  23. 


Spondi.tzon,  51. 

Stesichorus,  19. 

Stichomythy,  20. 

Strophe,  19,  43. 

Strophes  in  Later  Times,  32,  34. 

Syllable,  Last,  of  the  Verse,  42,  43,  48. 

Symmetry,  40.  42. 

Synapheia,  42,  43,  48. 

Synizesis  in  Greek,  92. 

in  Latin,  93-95. 
Syrus,  26. 
System,  43. 


Terence,  25,  26. 
Terentianus  Maurus,  33. 
Thesis,  38. 

Resolution  of,  48,  49. 
Tibulhis,  30. 
Tmesis,  87,  88. 

Tragedy  of  the  Time  of  Augustus,  31. 
Trochaic  Metres,  62,  63. 

V, 

Varro  Atacinus,  28. 
Varro  Reatinus,  29. 
Vergil,  29,  30. 
Verse,  40,  41. 
Verse-feet,  38-40. 

Versification,  Ancient,  in  its  Develop- 
ment, 13,  14. 

Greek, compared  with  Roman,  14. 

Final  State  of,  34. 
Versus  Politicus,  36. 
Vowels,  Successive  Sounds,  89-91. 


Allyn  &-  Bacon  ....  Boston. 


Adopted  at  the  High  Schools  of 

Bath     and     Hallovvell,     Maine 
Hartford,  Norwich,  and  Meriden,Ct.; 
Ogdensburgh,    Ilion,     Plattsburgli, 
Adams,  and  Flushing,  New  York  ; 
Jersey   City,    Montclair,   and 
Plainfield,  New   Jersey  ;    York 
Pittsburgh,  and   Beaver,    Pa. ; 
Cleveland  and  Findlay,  Ohio  ; 
Decatur    and    Ouincy,    111 
Saint   Paul,  Minnesota 

and  at 

Phillips     Academy 
Exeter,  N.  Hampshire; 
Wesleyan  Academy, 
Wilbraham,   Mass.; 
Thayer    Academy, 
Braintree,     Mass. 


i2mo. 
Bound  in 
Leather. 
With     col- 
ored   Maps, 
Plans,    Illus- 
trations,    and 
Vocabulary. 
60. 


Colgate  Academy, 
Hamilton,  N.Y.; 
Friends'  Central 
High     Schoo 
Philadelphia; 
Horner  Sch., 
O  -x  f  o  r  d, 
N,  C. 


m^ 


Adopted  at 

Berkeley     School, 

New    York    City; 

Dr.   Pingry's  School, 

Hasbrouck    Institute, 

Dearborn-Morgr.n  Sch., 

Peddie  Institute,  N.J.  ; 

De  Lancy  School   and 

Germantown  Academy,  Pa. 

In  the  Prep.  Defts  of 

Bucknell  University, 
Westminster  College, 

De  Pauw  University, 

Oberlin  College,  Cornell  College, 

University  of  Neb.,  Iowa  College, 

Colorado  College,  Hanover  College, 

and  many  other 

schools  and  colleges. 


Kelsey's  Anabasis. 


F.  S.  Morrison,  High  School,  Hartford,  Conn.  — 
I  have  exaiiiincd  it  with  interest  and  pleasure;  and 
am  particularly  pleased  with  the  maps,  the  introduc- 
tory matter,  and  the  table  of  idioms,  supplying  so 
much  that  is  val"able  yet  lacking  in  our  other  editions. 

E.  E.  Wentworth,  Principal  High  School,  Great 
Barriugton,  Mass. —  In  my  opinion,  it  leads  all  other 
editions  by  as  wide  a  stride  as  was  made  by  Kelsey's 
Caesar,  and  that  is  saying  a  great  deal. 

C.  S.  Halsey,  Classical  Institute,  Schenectady, 
iV.  Y.  —  The  notes  are  excellent;  they  furnish  just 
the  aid  that  is  needed  and  no  more.  Especially 
worthy  of  commendation  are  the  vocabulary  and 
pages  devoted  to  Idioms  and  Phrases. 

John  G.  Wight,  H/gh  School,  Worcester,  Mass. 

—  For  complete  and  comprehensive  excellence  —  in 
respect  to  text,  clear  and  exhaustive  introduction, 
instructive  illustrations,  maps,  notes,  and  vocabulary 

—  it  is  unequalled  by  any  text-book  with  which  I  am 
acquainted. 

D.  C.  Farr,  Glens  Falls  Academy,  A^.  V. — I  am 
sure  every  teacher  ought  to  introduce  the  book  first, 
and  then  congratulate  you  on  making  the  best  edition 
of  the  Anabasis  yet  published. 

Prof.  H.  S.  Kritz,  IVabask  College,  Crawfords- 
ville,  Ind.  —  Nothing  so  beautiful  and  elegant  in 
typography,  or  more  neat  and  substantial  in  binding, 
has  come  under  my  observation  for  a  long  time. 
The  editorial  work  has  been  done  with  rare  appre- 
ciation of  the  wants  of  the  students. 

Dr.  William  B.  Corbyn,  Principal  High  School, 
Qnincy,  III.  —  It  is  admirable.  We  shall  adopt  it 
immediately. 


Allyn  &■  Bacon Boston. 


Keep's  Homer's  Iliad 


AND 


Thurber's  Vocabulary 

Are  now  made  hi  the  following  forvis  : 

Iliad,  Books  I.-III.,  cloth $0.90 

— bound  with  Vocab.,  leather    1.20 

Iliad,  Books  I.-VI.,  leather 1.40 

bound  with  Vocab.,  leather    1.60 

Vocabulary  to  Iliad,  I.- VI.,  paper      .     .     .     0.50 

The  editions  of  Books  I.-VI.  contain  a  fac- 
simile of  a  page  of  the  famous  Venetian  Manu- 
script of  the  Iliad. 

No  pains  have  been  spared  to  make  these 
the  most  nseftil  and  practical  editions  of 
the  Iliad  that  can  be  put  into  the  hands  of 
a  beginner,  and  they  are  almost  univers- 
ally accepted,  not  oiily  as  the  best  school 
editions  of  any  part  of  Homer,  but  also 
as  text-books  of  altogether  exceptional 
merit. 

Prof.  M.  L.  D'Ooge,  U7iiversity  of  Michigan. — 
It  is  unquestionably  the  most  useful  and  the  most 
attractive  school  edition  of  the  first  six  books  of  the 
Iliad  that  has  ever  been  prepared  for  English-speaking 
students.  The  Introduction,  the  Essay  on  Scanning, 
and  the  Sketch  of  the  Epic  Dialect  are  each  admi- 
rable in  its  way;  while  the  notes  in  general  seem 
well  suited  to  the  wants  of  those  for  whom  the  edition 
is  designed. 


Allyn  Sr  Bacon  ....  Boston. 

*  11-  •)      Greek  Prose 

AllinSOn  S    composition. 

i6mo.     Cloth.     212  pages,     ^i.oo. 

This  book  is  intended  foi-  use  in  writing  con- 
nected Greek  jirose.  It  presupposes  a  knowl- 
edge of  forms,  and  contains  : 

I.  Notes  on  Idiom  and  Syntax,  explaining 
the  use  of  the  article,  jDronouns,  participles, 
moods,  and  tenses. 

II.  Stimmary  of  Rules  for  cases  and  accents. 

III.  Exercises,  carefully  graded,  and  arranged 
in  three  sections. 

IV.  A  general  vocabulary. 

Dr.  Morris  H.  Morgan,  Harvard  College.  —  I 
have  carefully  examined  the  book,  and  believe  that 
it  is  a  most  excellent  guide.  Especially  am  I  pleased 
with  the  fact  that  the  exercises  are  based  on  real 
Greek  models  and  expressed  in  the  English  language. 
This  book  is  not  disfigured  by  the  vile  jargon  which 
was  invented  by  the  adversary  for  particular  use  in 
such  manuals,  a  language  certainly  spoken  nowhere 
upon  earth  and,  I  trust,  not  elsewhere.  I  hope  the 
book  will  meet  the  great  success  it  deserves. 

Prof.  Robert  Sharp,  Tidane  University,  N'ti.u 
Orleans. —  I  need  not  say  that  I  am  pleased  with 
the  book ;  my  action  in  adopting  it  for  my  classes 
shows  as  much.  But  I  will  say  that  it  supplies  our 
needs  here  better  than  any  other  book  I  have  yet 
seen. 


Allyn  &-  Bacon  ....  Boston. 


Kelsey's 

Selections 
from 

Ovid. 


With  Introduction, 
Notes,  Vocabula- 
ry, and  ten  full- 
page  Illustrations. 

1 2 mo,  half  leather. 

$1.25. 


L  C.  Hull,  Lawrenceville  School,  iV /.  — Pro- 
fessor Kelsey  has  again  shown  how  admirably  he 
can  meet  the  wants  of  good  teachers.  But  his  edi- 
tion of  Ovid  does  more  than  this.  We  have  all 
read  tlie  stereotyped  testimonial  which  tells  that  the 
author  has  satisfied  a  long  felt  want.  But  a  really 
good  text-book  should  inspire  as  well  as  gratify  an 
appetite  The  book  that  merely  chronicles  the  best 
system  in  vogue  at  the  time  of  its  pul^lication,  adds 
little  to  the  history  of  teaching.  This  edition  of 
Ovid  must  quicken  the  poetic  sense  of  even  the  most 
prosaic  teachers.  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  many  a 
pupil  will  thank  Professor  Kelsey  for  having  shown 
how  the  same  themes  that  inspired  Ovid  still  live  in 
our  own  Engli-h  classics.  Hitherto  we  have  had  to 
send  our  boys  to  Bulfinch  for  such  proofs.  Now  we 
have  had  given  to  us  a  manual  of  mythology,  a 
scholarly  edition,  a  Latin  classic,  and  an  abundance 
of  poetic  inspiration,  all  at  once.  Ovid  did  not  wriie 
to  exhibit  the  grammatical  usages  of  his  day,  or  to 
help  make  philologists;  and  Professor  Kelsey  has 
not  made  the  mistake  of  supposing  that  his  verses 
are  best  used  when  they  are  made  to  serve  such 
purposes. 


Allyn  &-  Bacon  ....  Boston. 


Kelsey's 

Caesar's 

Gallic 

War. 


Books  I.  to  VII. 

W  ith  Introduction,  Notes, 
Vocabulary,  Table  of 
Idioms,  a.id  twenty  full- 
page  Illustrations. 

i^mo,  half  leather.    $1.25. 


Throughout  the  book  every  ejfort  has 
been  made,  by  way  of  illustration  ajid 
coviine7it,  to  render  the  study  of  Caesar 
attractive  and  useful, — a  means  of  culture 
as  well  as  of  discipline.  That  the  result 
has  been  to  produce  the  best-equipped  edi- 
tion of  the  Gallic  War  is  generally  con- 
ceded. 

Dr.  J.  H.  Hanson,  Classical  lusiitttte,  Watcrville. 
Me.  —  It  is  the  ideal  Caesar  realized.  That  it  sur- 
passes all  its  competitors  must,  it  seems  to  me,  be 
the  universal  verdict. 

Richard  M.  Jones,  Head-Master  Wm.  Perm 
Charter  School,  Philadelphia. —  Kelsey's  Caesar  is  in 
my  judgment  the  nearest  approach  yet  made  in  this 
country  to  what  a  school  edition  of  an  ancient  classic 
should  be. 

Dr.  James  M.  Milne,  Norvtal  School,  Ouconta, 
N.  V.  —  I  am  delighted  with  it.  Its  accurate  scholar, 
ship,  its  broad  scope,  its  illustrations,  the  clearness 
of  the  text,  all  make  it  the  ideal  book. 


Allyn  S-  Bacon  ....  Boston, 

Pennell's 

Pennell's 

Ancient 

Ancient 

Greece. 

Rome. 

i5mo,  198  pages.    6octs. 

i6mo,  284  pages.    Co  cts. 

Revised  Editions  witJi  Alaps  and  Plans. 

Tor  these  new  editions  the  books  have  been 
entirely  rewritten,  the  size  being  increased  by 
about  one  half.     The  distinctive  features  are: 

I.  The  concise  and  readable  Form  in  which 
tlie  leading  facts  are  presented  ;  minor  details 
and  unimportant  names  are  omitted. 

II.  The  Maps  and  Flans,  drawn  and  en- 
graved specially  for  the  books,  containing  all 
the  data,  and  only  the  data,  necessary  for  fol- 
lowing the  story. 

III.  The  Index,  serving  also  as  a  key  to  the 
pronunciation  of  proper  names. 

IV.  Recent  Examination  Fapers,  used  at 
Harvard,  Yale,  and  by  the  Regents  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  New  York. 

One  or  both  hoo/cs  are  in  use  in  tlie  High  Schools  at 
Portland,  Bath,  Waterville,  Me. ;     Nashua,  N.  II. ; 
Salem,  Somerville,  Taunton,  Waltham,  Mass. ; 
Utica,  Ithaca,  Lockport,    Geneva,   Warsaw,  N.  Y. ; 
Wooster,  Ohio  ;    Ottawa,  111. ;    Milwaukee,  Wis.; 
Kansas  City,  Mo.;    Mankato,  Minnesota; 

Also  at  Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  St.  Paul's 
School,  Concord;  Albany  and  Colgate  Academies, 
Berkeley  School,  N.  Y.  ;  Peddie  Institute,  N.  J. ; 
Smith  Acad.,  St.  Louis;  University  School,  Chicago; 
And  the  preparatory  departments  of  many  colleges. 


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